Life's Little Surprises
by TrickPhotography
Summary: As J.J. leaves the BAU, her replacement tries to find her niche. As if that isn't difficult enough, someone is killing women at her alma mater. Life/Case Fic
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Agent Alicia Clark of the FBI closed the file in front of her and leaned back into the plush jet seat. Eyes closed, she reached up and yanked the hair tie from her brown hair and fluffed it out. The elastic band was tossed on top of the folder, soon followed by her glasses.

"Get some sleep," SSA Emily Prentiss suggested, looking at the tired young woman sitting across from her.

"Too much work," the twenty-five year old replied. "Not enough time." Her thumb went to turn a non-existent ring on her left ring finger. Habit.

"You can't do anymore tonight. Finish your report in the morning," Emily pushed. When Alicia opened her eyes and looked at Emily, it was clear that work wasn't the only thing on her mind.

"How long does it take to get the images out of your mind?" she whispered. Dr. Spencer Reid, who was sitting next to Emily, stirred in his sleep. "Those girls in the basement…"

"It takes a while," Emily reached across the table and clutched Alicia's hand. "They never really go away, but you learn to deal." Alicia swallowed hard and withdrew her hand. For the rest of the flight, she worked on the report so that it just needed to be typed as soon as she landed. Emily watched, worried, but said no more. Before long, the entire team was asleep, except for their new member.

Around midnight, the jet smoothly touched down. Groggily, but happy to be home, they descended the ramp and stood on the tarmac.

"Is it me or does it seem like they keep sending them in younger and younger," David Rossi said to Aaron Hotchner as he watched Clark and Reid wait for their bags.

"J.J. picked her. We've got to trust that she can do the job," Hotch replied, not acknowledging that he'd thought the same. This job wasn't something that he would have taken for his first FBI posting.

"Here you go," Derek Morgan smiled as he handed Alicia her bag. She smiled back gratefully and tugged her jacket closer around her body. "Don't like the cold weather?"

"Not really," she glared up at the snow before brushing away some that had managed to get behind her glasses and landed on her eyelashes. "It doesn't snow in Japan."

"Actually, it does," Reid muttered tiredly. "Mount Fuji is snowcapped and the rest of the island does get it occasionally."

"Okinawa doesn't get snow very often," Alicia amended. "At least not while I was living there." She turned and walked to the waiting car, tossing her bag in the bag and climbing into the back seat. Fatigue was hitting her hard, but she fought against closing her eyes.

"Looks like she passed out," Derek whispered to Reid as they climbed into the SUV. When Emily, Hotch, and Rossi were in the other car, the team drove back to the office. Spencer gently shook the new girl when they pulled in.

"We're here."

"What? Oh," she flushed, pushing her glasses higher on her nose, "I didn't think we'd left the air strip."

"You could have slept on the plane," Morgan teased. Alicia rolled her eyes, got out of the car, and retrieved her bag. She was walking behind the rest of the team as they cut past security and headed towards the office, checking her phone. "Baby Girl, what are you doing here so late?"

"Just waiting for my babies to get home," Penelope Garcia said, the grin evident in her voice. "Plus, one of the other team's analyst is out on vacation and they're about to break their case."

Alicia looked up and saw that Penelope wasn't alone. A tall, well-built, attractive man with short copper hair was standing next to her at the coffee pot. A bouquet of roses was in his hands, and a grin was plastered on his face. She could feel her jaw drop as he closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her waist. Without any trouble, he lifted her up and kissed her full on the mouth.

"I'm guessing you know each other," Rossi stated as Alicia was set back on her feet with a stunned look on her face.

"I'm Travis Clark, her husband," the man answered in a thick Georgia accent. Alicia opened and closed her mouth before clearing her throat.

"Travis, this is Dr. Reid, Agents Morgan, Prentiss, Rossi, and my boss, Agent Hotchner." Travis reached to shake everyone's hand before handing his wife the roses. "Would you guys excuse us please?" With a strong grasp on Travis' arm, Alicia steered him towards her office, closing the door behind them sharply.

"Did anyone know she was married?" Rossi asked.

"No, she doesn't wear a ring," Derek replied.

"Travis said that he was wrapping up his tour in Japan and she wanted to come to the States to start working on her career before he got out," Penelope smiled. "I love Army boys."

"She didn't look happy to see him," Hotch stated. Everyone glanced up at Alicia's office but saw that the blinds had been shut.

"What are you doing here?" Alicia asked as soon as she had shut the door and dropped her bag. Travis grinned and reached for her but she slapped his hand away. Quickly she moved to the other side of the desk and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Come on baby," Travis pleaded.

"Don't 'baby' me," she spat. "What do want?" Sighing heavily, he reached for his back pocket and pulled out some papers.

"These are for you," he said as he handed them to her.

"Are they the divorce papers?"

"Just read it." She opened them and saw that they were military orders. "I got us England just like you wanted."

"Trav," she breathed. "This isn't…I can't… I don't want this anymore." She tried to hand him the papers but he wouldn't take them.

"I did this for us," he argued. "You wanted to go to Europe again so I got us orders."

"We aren't 'us' anymore." Tears sprang to her eyes but she took a deep breath. "If you would just sign the damn papers this would be so much easier!"

"Listen to me," he rushed around and grabbed her by the shoulders, catching her hand as she tried to slap him. "How many times do I have to apologize for those other girls?"

"Which one? The one from when I was in school and you were in Louisiana? Or how about when we were engaged? Maybe the one that made you lose a stripe?" It took everything in her to not pick up something and lob it at his head. "Go to hell. And get out of my office."

"So you just want to throw away eight years?"

"No, babe," she mocked, "that would be what you did."

"I'm not signing those papers," he spat.

"Then I guess I'll see you in court." Travis glared at his wife, who glared right back. After a minute, he opened the door and stormed out. The tears, now of anger and betrayal, started to zigzag down her face. Alicia was having trouble breathing as she doubled over, crouching on her office floor like a coward.

The betrayal. The case. The divorce. The fear. The hurt. The loss.

"Clark?" someone knocked on the office door. Ignoring the gaping hole in her chest, she sat down in her chair and wiped away the tears.

"Yes?" she answered, opening a new word document on her computer. Rossi poked his head in.

"You okay?"

"Fine," she tried to smile. He looked at her and stepped in, closing the door behind himself. After a moment of studying the new agent, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his wallet. From it, he withdrew a business card.

"Tell him I gave you his card. He's good. He'll make sure that everything gets taken care of," Rossi said, placing the little white card on top of a stack of files. Without another word, he left.

_Marcus Rayborn_

_Divorce Attorney_

Alicia looked at the card and blushed. Apparently everyone knew that she was going to be divorced soon. Great. It took her only a moment to realize that she wouldn't be getting much work done tonight. All she wanted to do was grab a bottle of wine, go home, and take a long bath. Relaxing would be the best thing for her.

That wasn't in the cards, however. As she walked towards her apartment building after leaving the office and getting her wine, Alicia noticed a man leaning against her front door.

"Hey," Spencer said, grinning shyly. "I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine," she said before leaning over to kiss him. "Want to come in?" Spencer nodded and wrapped an arm around her waist as she opened her door. They didn't speak as Alicia went through her evening routine, changing into PJs, taking off her make up, popping some popcorn, etc. Spencer opened the wine and poured them each a glass.

She watched him move around her apartment with easy familiarity. They'd spent a lot of evenings watching TV and talking here, sometimes going to his place. He'd helped her finish unpacking some boxes and organizing her bookshelf. Almost everything in her new home was permeated with a memory of two men: Travis and Spencer.

"Hey," he said when he heard her sob. Crying women wasn't something he was used to but he pulled her into a tight embrace.

"I'm so-sorry," she cried. "I didn't wa-want to kiss him."

"Shh, it's fine," he muttered, rubbing her back. He noticed that she looked even more beautiful crying.

"I didn't know he was coming."

"I know." He was surprised when she pushed away from him.

"No, I'm not going to do this," she wiped at the tears that were steaming down her face. "I'm the one that filed. And I'm happy. I'm happy damn it!"

"Okay, okay, you're happy." As if to prove it, she grabbed a glass of wine and stomped over to her iPod player. After a moment, an upbeat song that he didn't know started to play.

_Everybody go the party's over. I wanna be alone in my head, in my bed tonight, you never show._

"Dance with me?" she asked, reaching out to him. He chuckled and, with his wine, made his way over to her.

"I don't dance."

"I'll teach you," she smiled, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him.

_Love was surely made for fools like me_

_

* * *

So this is going to be my first multi-chapter series on FanFiction. Please let me know what you think! I appreciate all reviews, positive or negative._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_**Three Months Earlier**_

Spencer stood in the philosophy section of the bookstore and read the cover of one of the books before placing it back on the shelf. He wasn't exactly sure what he was looking for, but anything would be better than rereading his books at home. After all, he never learned anything new and repetitive thinking is a death knell for the brain. For complete brain usage, diverse stimulation is the key.

"This are the only books we have on the subject," one of the workers said, directing a woman towards the psychology section. She thanked the younger boy before running her fingers down the spine of one of the books. Spencer looked up from another book briefly before doing a double take.

The woman was wearing a reddish sweatshirt that was too big for her and blue jeans. The darker spots on her clothes told him the weatherman had been right; it was raining outside. He gulped, watching as she tilted her head to the side and furrowed her eyebrows. A delicate finger swept wet strands on hair behind her ear as her teeth dug into her pink lips. Mentally shaking himself, he realized he looked like a creep staring at this woman.

These little details burned themselves into his memory. He had seen how beautiful she was. Not the over-the-top model kind, but the comfortable in her own skin beautiful. Gulping again, he turned back to the books in front of him, pushing his glasses further up his nose. Of all days to run out of contact solution! But he had noticed that she wore glasses to. He thought he as cute how her bangs rested on the stems of her glasses and kind of curled up.

"Excuse me," she said quietly as she passed behind him. He stepped closer to the shelves to give her room, sneaking another glance. Her arms were now laden with books about…serial killers? "Um, sorry to bother you, but would you mind," Spencer turned around when he realized she was talking to him. The woman smiled as though embarrassed to have to ask for help as she pointed to a book. "I seem to be a bit too short for this section."

"Yeah, sure," he replied, shelving the book in his hand and turning to get the out of reach hardback for her. "_'A Desk Guide to Psychological Disorders'_," Spencer read aloud before handing it to her. "Working on a degree?" He had seen Florida State University written across her chest. He internally debated on slipping his card into the book. After all, he was known to lecture on psychological disorders.

"Thanks. Just doing some research for a new job," she replied. "I'm Alicia Clark, by the way."

"Spencer Reid," he said, shaking her hand. She had very warm hands, a shocking difference from his usually cold ones. Unfortunately the action nearly caused the pile of books to topple from her arms. "Oops, sorry."

"No problem," she laughed, shifting the weigh of the books.

"You know, this would probably be a better reference," he stated, reaching up to grab a different book. "It has more accurate descriptions and the brain chemistry that goes along with the disorders."

"Huh, thanks. Are you a psychologist or something?" Her hazel eyes flashed with interest.

"No, but I am a doctor." 

"Ph. or M.D.?"

"Ph," he replied, a smile creeping onto his face. "Thee times over." True, he was bragging. Morgan would be proud that he was flirting with a pretty girl.

"Impressive," she studied him for a moment. "You don't look nearly old enough to have three. Did you do college classes in high school or something?"

"Not really. I kind of graduated high school when I was 12." Spencer could feel himself blush as Alicia's eyes widened.

"So you're a certifiable genius?"

"Yeah." She was still kind of gaping at him, but shook herself. "Have you read Rossi's books before?" he asked, deflecting the attention from himself and towards the books in her arms. Dave would be getting a nice check from his publisher, as Alicia had every one of his books in her pile.

"What? No, I haven't, but I heard he's a good read. I guess he's got lots of hands on experience."

"Definitely, he's kind of a living legend. Really nice though."

"You know him?" Again, shock colored her voice.

"I work with him." 

"No way! You work for the BAU?" It was Spencer's turn to be surprised. She flushed again, taking in his expression. "That's my new job."

"You're J.J.'s replacement?"

"Agent Jareau? Yup, she interviewed me earlier this week." A self-satisfied smile graced her lips.

"So you're FBI?"

"I'm still at the Academy, but Agent Jareau wanted me to start studying before I graduate so that I can be ready to jump in right away."

"She hasn't told any of us that she had someone in mind," Spencer mulled that over.

"Guess I kind of blew that secret," Alicia muttered.

"Don't worry about it, I won't say a word. Listen, do you want some help getting the right study materials?"

"Definitely," Alicia grinned. "How about I pay you back with a drink?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Girls night out!" Penelope announced as she burst into Alicia's office. "Come on, time to party!" Alicia kept reading the file, trying to ignore the bubbly blonde standing in her doorway. "Hello Miss I'm-too-busy-reading-to-talk-to-my-friend, I said it's time to party."

"I can't tonight," Alicia stated, going over a crime scene photo. Penelope reached across the desk and pulled the file from under her fingertips.

"Oh, no, no, no, you see, I let you get out of the last one because of… well I did." The last time they'd had a girl's night, Alicia had been meeting with a divorce attorney.

"Penelope…" the annoyed woman warned, reaching for the folder again.

"Ready?" Emily ducked her head in.

"Guys, I have so much to do!" Alicia motioned to the piles of folders. She quickly grabbed the stolen folder from Penelope's hand while she was distracted.

"And they'll be here on Monday," Emily replied. "Don't make me drag you." Sensing that she would actually do it, Alicia relented and grabbed her purse. However, it didn't stop her from casting a longing glance towards her office. Why put off today

"Girl's night?" Derek asked as the three women as they walked past his desk. He stood and shrugged on his jacket.

"It is Friday," Penelope answered. "Care to join and make it 'team night'?"

"I would Baby Girl, but Daddy's got a date," Morgan winked. "Reid, how about you go out with these girls?"

"There's a new documentary on-"

"You're coming," Emily interrupted him. "Get your stuff."

"It's Girls Night. That precludes men."

"Ok, now it's The Girls and Reid night."

"How come you haven't threatened to drag him?" Alicia sighed. "I get threatened with bodily harm and he just gets a scolding?"

"I'll drag you," Emily stated. Reid rolled his eyes but got his bag. Penelope linked arms with Alicia and steered her towards the elevator. "To the bar!"

"To the bar," Penelope echoed. "And to drinking the night away."

OOO

"Shots, my loves," Penelope said as she set them down on the table. Everyone reached for one. "To friendship." They tapped them the glasses before downing them, feeling the whiskey burn all the way down.

"Bleh," Alicia said. "I'm more of a rum or vodka girl."

"Brandy," Spencer stated.

"Come on, it's not that bad," Emily laughed. "At least it's not the cheap kind."

"Amen. That'll kick you in the teeth the next morning," Alicia replied, taking a sip of her rum and coke. "I'll get the next ones." She winked before taking off to the bar.

"She seems like fun once you get her out of the office," Penelope said. They watched as Alicia flagged down the bartender and ignored the man trying to flirt with her. Spencer looked at his girlfriend and smirked. Keeping their relationship a secret was probably the best idea.

"Did I miss anything?" Derek asked, sliding into a vacant seat.

"Hey, I thought you had a date!" Penelope said.

"Yeah, that didn't work out as well as I'd hoped. More interested in the credentials than me."

"Is that even possible?" Alicia asked as she returned. "You're sparkling personality is all that I ever see. Well that and your wonderful physique. And play along please, I told that guy you're my boyfriend," she added, looking at Spencer.

"What? Why not Morgan?" Spencer blushed. Maybe she was rethinking keeping the secret?

"Because you are every bit as hot as him. Oh, these are carrot cake shots by the way. Derek, I even got you one."

"Bottoms up," Derek laughed. "That's actually pretty good. What is it?"

"Hot Damn, Buttershot, and Bailey's. I used to have these all the time in college."

Those shots quickly began to hit the team as they tried to one up one another. Alicia, who drank liquor rarely, was the first to be tipsy. Everyone laughed at her when she kept chewing on her numb lips.

"I," she declared, "want to dance. Spence, boyfriend of mine, care to dance?"

"I don't dance. And the floor's kind of crowded," he replied, looking at the small dance floor in the corner.

"Alright, Donald Downer," she said. Morgan laughed and reached across the table.

"Let's go." She grabbed his hand and they wove their way through the crowd to the dance floor. "You liking the BAU so far?"

"It's…It's different. I was a librarian before this," she giggled as he twirled her.

"You were a librarian?" he said, shock coloring his voice. Alicia nodded as Derek placed a hand on her hip.

Spencer watched the two dancing and felt a jolt of jealousy. Sure, he knew that Derek had no idea that he was dancing Spencer's girlfriend, but still.

"Reid!" Emily yelled.

"What?"

"I said it's your turn to get the drinks," she repeated.

"Oh, ok. I'll be right back."

"He's definitely got a crush!" Penelope stated. "Our little genius is smitten with the new girl."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Damn," Dave muttered as he lowered his gun. His arms ached a little from the recoil but it was a comforting pain.

"Nice shooting," Alicia, grinned, stepping up behind him. The target paper was decorated with little holes all around the chest and one headshot.

"Let's see what you've got," he retorted. Rolling her eyes, she stepped into the booth that she'd reserved and put on her safety glasses and noise reduction earmuffs. After turning to give Dave thumbs up, Alicia drew her weapon and started to fire. The recoil shot up her arms as she emptied her clip in less than a minute.

Dave clapped her on the shoulder as she set the pistol on the table and hit the button to draw up her target. "Nice shooting," he said once she'd removed her earmuffs. They studied her paper, noting that she'd had mostly chest shots, one just hitting the side of his head. "You should have trouble passing your certification again."

"I don't have to for a couple of months," she laughed. "I like your gun."

"Springfield .45 caliber, one of my favorites," the older Italian replied, patting the holstered weapon. "What model Glock do you have?"

"Twenty-three. Care to move to the outdoor range?" she challenged. Derek had become bored with the indoor range and had gone out before them.

"Where'd you learn to shoot?" Dave asked as they gathered their things. Alicia holstered her weapon on her hip and pulled her ponytail a little tighter.

"I was married to an Army Ranger who was also born and raised in the South," she laughed, rolling her eyes again.

"You finished the papers?" he asked, placing a guiding hand on her lower back.

"Just waiting to sign," she sighed, "he still wanted me to move back with him. But when I told him there's no way in hell that would happen, he tried to make me go crazy with the details."

"My third wife did that. She wanted to fight over vases and silverware to distract me from the big pictures: the houses, the paintings."

"Well, I'm glad I don't have enough money to have to worry about that. And I just want to say thanks again for giving me Mr. Rayborn's card." Dave waved off the thanks as they waited for Derek to finish his rounds.

"There's something to be said about being single," Dave said, patting the woman standing with him on the shoulder.

"Intimacy is a four syllable word for, 'Here's my heart and soul, please grind them into hamburger and enjoy." Thankfully he didn't notice the blush on her cheeks as she distracted him.

"I haven't heard that one before," he chuckled.

"The wisdom of Meredith Gray," she winked. "Not every good quote comes from a book." Grey's Anatomy was one of her favorite shows.

"About time!" Derek yelled when he'd taken off his earmuffs. "I was just about to come in and see if you had shot him."

"Tempted, but no," Alicia joked. "But I'm almost ready for that beer you're going to owe me."

"Oh, cocky little thing, aren't you," Derek teased. "Whose to say I'm going to lose this bet. I've been out here practicing-"

"Cheating," Dave interrupted.

"Practicing," Derek reiterated. "So let's see what you've got, Sweetheart."

"I'll put twenty bucks on Weaver," Dave said quite solemnly.

"Thank you, Dave," Alicia replied, taking the rifle from Derek's hand. After checking the chamber and reloading it, she squared her feet and took aim. It only took a moment to factor in the wind and the other minute calculations before she squeezed the trigger.

"Damn, girl!"

"Take that, City Boy," she stuck her tongue out and handed him the gun. Derek took it quickly, and after a minute, squeezed the trigger.

"I'll take that twenty," Dave laughed. "You don't bet against a Ranger's wife."

"Ex-wife."

OOO

"There is no way in hell that your team is going to beat mine," Derek challenged, sipping his beer.

"Have you seen your team? It's the Bears for Christ's sake!"

"At least my team doesn't cheat."

"No, no, no. Don't go there. You're team cheats just as much as mine, but they just didn't get caught."

"So you're saying that the Patriots suck?"

"I'm just saying that we wouldn't exactly get into the NSA." Derek laughed as their waitress came up and took their order. Beer and wings were on the menu for the night, thanks to Derek and his aim. Dave had gone home, after much teasing, because he'd had a date scheduled. The confirmed bachelor had taken it jovially before retorting that they were just jealous that they didn't have anyone lined up.

"You know, I had my doubts about you," said Derek quite suddenly.

"Yeah? About what?"

"You're young."

"So's Spencer."

"That boy's a genius, no offense." She shrugged and took a drag of her beer. "But usually young means inexperienced. You've really stepped up, Kid."

"Thanks, I'm glad that I'm up to your standards. Now shut up and let's watch my team kick your team's ass."

* * *

**Author's Note: **I just wanted to pop in and say a big thanks for everyone who's been reading. I appreciate all of the story alerts and favorites that have been flooding my inbox =] Hopefully you are enjoying reading this as much as I enjoy writing it. If you have questions or if I've made a horrible cannon mistake, please let me know! I've just recently found and fallen in love with Criminal Minds, and haven't been able to rewatch the seasons multiple times.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Spence!" J.J. said as she answered her cell phone.

"Hey," Spencer replied. "How are you?"

"Great. We've finally got all the boxes unpacked and Will found a job at the police department."

"That is great." It had taken Spencer a while to get used to one of his closest friends moving to Pittsburg. It was understandable that she wanted to live closer to her family but leaving the BAU was leaving a family. "So I need to tell you something."

"Ok," she said cautiously.

"I've met someone."

"Really? That's great!" J.J. replied enthusiastically. She'd often wondered why Reid didn't date more. He was a wonderful guy. "Tell me about her."

"I will, but you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone. We've kind of decided to keep our relationship a secret."

"Alright," she was curious now.

"I'm dating Alicia."

"Alicia? As in my replacement Alicia?"

"Yeah." There was silence at the other end. "J.J.?"

"Spence, she's a married woman. You realize that, right?"

"No! She's signing the divorce papers tomorrow. They've been separated for about half a year now." He could hear J.J. sigh.

"You know I love you, right?" Spencer could hear the 'but' that was coming. "But do you really want to be her rebound guy? And what about the fraternization policy?" For the first time, Spencer could actually feel himself getting mad at the woman he had once fancied himself in love with.

"This isn't a rebound." The annoyance in his voice was obvious. "And everyone disregards the policy." J.J. felt properly chastised.

"Hey, I'm happy for you, but I just think maybe you should think about this." Spencer was about to reply when he heard someone knocking on his apartment door.

"I'll talk to you later. I've got company," Spencer said quickly before hanging up. He put his phone on the coffee table and slowly walked to the door. He wasn't expecting any company tonight. After peeking in the peephole, he grinned and opened the door.

"WE WON!" a slightly drunk Alicia grinned as she flung her arms around his neck and kissed him. He could taste the beer on her lips. "Derek was pissed that his Bears fell to the Pats, but ha! I told him it would happen!"

"Come in before you wake up my neighbors," he chided her. She smiled again before pecking his cheek.

"I wish you would have come," she sighed, putting her purse on the table and turning to him. She had spent her Sunday at shooting range and a sports bar watching football with Dave and Derek, not exactly one of his favorite activities. Spencer smiled and walked to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She was wearing a jersey that had "Welker" written across the back, dark blue jeans, and Chuck Taylor shoes. Without her high heels on, she was barely reaching his shoulders.

"I wouldn't have been much fun. Plus, Morgan knows I don't watch sports so it would have been weird for me to be there."

"So I was thinking," she chewed on her bottom lip. "I'm a divorcee tomorrow. Which means I'm officially single."

"Yes," he said slowly, not following her line of thinking.

"Soooo… maybe we should tell everyone about us? That way we don't have to sneak around. Not that I don't enjoy this cloak and dagger game." He laughed and kissed her. They'd used every bit of his profiling knowledge to avoid being found out. She grabbed his pant belt loops and pulled him even closer to her.

"Not until the papers are signed," he reminded her gently, stepping out of her grasp. They had made a deal: no sex until she was divorced.

"But it's less than 24 hours away," she pouted. "What's 24 measly hours?"

"It's 1,440 minutes, 86,400 seconds," he replied.

"Shut up," she pushed him gently. "What if we have to leave tomorrow? Then we'd have to wait until we get back to celebrate."

"What are the chances of us leaving?" he asked her.

"I'm pretty sure that we're going to Colorado – Hey! No distracting me with work. I'm talking about you and me here."

"Maybe we should keep quiet about us for a while. That way, when we do tell everyone, they'll take it seriously." He was thinking about J.J. calling him Alicia's rebound. After contemplating that for a minute, she nodded.

"I guess." She kissed him before taking his hand and leading him to his bedroom.

Well, maybe the other part of their divorce requirement wasn't going to hold.

OOO

"I don't know if we should be yelling 'Congrats' or not, but yay on being divorced," Penelope said as Alicia walked into the office. The team was milling around Emily's desk where a plate of cupcakes was.

"Thanks," Alicia grinned, taking one of the cupcakes. "You can call me Agent Weaver now."

Spencer tried to keep from smiling, but wasn't able to.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Just wanted to inform you that the next chapter will start the the case part of this case fic =] I really hope you guys enjoy it because that's pretty much what this idea started out as.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

_**A Year Later**_

_Alicia was struggled against the bonds that held her hands to the steering wheel. Her feet slammed on the brakes but they had been disabled. Slowly, the car started to roll into the lake. _

_She screamed but the gag muffled her cries. The masked man, whom she could see in the rear view mirror, waved in an almost sarcastic manner. _

_It was at that moment she realized that she wasn't alone in the car. In the back seat on the passenger's side, was a car seat. A beautiful baby boy was looking at her, his eyes wet with tears. _

_Alicia struggled even harder but she could feel the water on her feet. With a mammoth effort, she managed to get one hand free but the water was up to her chest. After releasing her other hand, she scrambled into the back seat. The car was completely submerged as she reached kicked the window, trying to break free. The water had nearly reached the baby and she quickly worked to free him from the restraints, his wailing adding to her panic. She pressed him to her chest and stared as the water crept higher, knowing there was nothing else she could do. _

Alicia sat up quickly and gasped for air. Spencer, who had been sleeping peacefully beside her, jolted awake.

"What is it?" he asked, looking around her room for whatever had scared her. Alicia clamped a hand over her mouth as she began to wretch before running from the room and into the bathroom

OOO

"I'm leaving," Spencer said as he knocked on the bathroom door.

"What? Oh, I'll see you at work," Alicia said through the door, trying to make her voice sound normal. She'd been closeted away for quite a few hours.

"Are you sure you're fine?" she could hear the worry in his voice and forced herself to paste a smile on before opening the door.

"Yeah," she said, leaning to peck his cheek. "I'll see you at the office, okay?" His eyes scanned her face, seeing the obvious lie but not pushing it.

"Want me to grab you a coffee?" She declined and gently closed the door in his face.

The offensive little stick was sitting on the sink, an annoying little hourglass turning on the digital face. Alicia paced for a few minutes before sitting on the edge of the tub, her legs bouncing. She couldn't form a complete thought other than listing what had brought her to this moment: sore breasts, being tired all the time, forgetfulness, and a missing period. Oh, and the insatiable need for apples.

There was no way she could be pregnant.

Thee minutes felt like an eternity as Alicia waited for the result to pop up on the pregnancy test. She was grateful that she'd even had one in the apartment.

Thank god Spencer had left already. She was a nervous wreck. There would be only one night that could have cause this. A night of too much wine and too few care when they'd been celebrating yet another successful case. A night that felt right to tumble into bed together without taking any precautions.

Her hazel eyes darted to the test again, registering the word that had appeared. Her hands covered her stomach as a gasp escaped her lips.

Pregnant.

OOO

"You're late," Prentiss said.

"What? No, no I'm not," Alicia said quickly. Emily looked a little taken aback at the panic in the younger girl's voice.

"It's 9:10. Did you hit traffic?"

"Oh, yeah, there was a fender bender that blocked my main route," Alicia breathed, glancing at her watch. Of course Emily would be talking about the time.

"Are you alright? You seem kind of worked up." Spencer looked up from his desk and gave his girlfriend a worried look. Alicia ignored him and gave a weak smile to Emily.

"Bad dreams. And I think I ate something bad chicken last night. I've got to go work on some stuff," she said before retreating to her office.

"Something is definitely up with her," Emily told Spencer.

"She might just be sick," he said. "Food poisoning or the stomach flu. Wasn't there something floating around?"

"What are you guys talking about?" Derek asked, setting a cup of coffee on his desk. While Emily filled him in on their co-worker's odd behavior, Alicia was looking at the container on her desk.

Tums.

Tears sprang to her eyes and she bit into her cheek to stop from crying. Spencer had obviously snuck in before anyone had gotten to the office and left them for her. After chewing two, she flipped through the contacts of her phone and placed a call.

"Dr. Kline's office, this is Sarah speaking, how may I help you?"

"Hi, this is Alicia Weaver. I need to schedule an appointment to…to confirm a pregnancy," the phrase was hard to say.

"Ok, the first opening I have is on Monday of next week. Is there a certain time that works best for you?"

"As early as possible."

"How's 8:00?" After confirming the appointment, Alicia sat heavily in her chair, fingers massaging her temples. She inhaled sharply before opening the file for today's briefing, reexamining the facts of the case. Before she got too far into the details, however, her phone started ringing.

"Weaver."

"Is this the woman from the FBI who I'm supposed to call if there's trouble?"

"Yes, how can I help?"

"We've got a big problem here on campus. Two students were killed in as many weeks." He'd said the magic words.

"Fax me your files and I'll present the case to the team." After giving him the fax number, she sat back and waited for the information to roll in.

At 9:50 she walked to the conference room and set up her projector.

"Feeling any better?" Spencer asked as he walked in and sat in his usual chair.

"I was until I saw this," she replied, pulling up a picture of a dead girl in a fountain. Her eyes were open, looking up at the sky. "I used to walk past this all the time."

"You lived near there?"

"Starting early?" asked Hotch as he breezed in, followed by Derek, Emily, Dave, and Penelope. Rather than answer, Alicia handed out files to each of the team members.

"The Tallahassee Police Department's requested our help. There's been a string of murders at Florida State University. The first victim, identified as Lindsey Carlson, was found in a fountain at the edge of campus. Her wrists had been slashed and her clothes were removed. There was a single shot to the head. A piece of tape with the word 'whore' written on it was over her mouth."

"Forensics?" Derek asked.

"None. The police believe that she was moved there after she was killed because of the lack of blood at the scene. Ashley Holmes was found a week later in a different fountain in the middle of the campus, no clothes, no blood, single gunshot, tape over the mouth. The students are starting to panic and they're thinking about shutting down the campus." Alicia crossed her arms over her chest, staring at the picture on the screen.

"Garcia, see if there's any similarities between the victims: class schedules, clubs, social circles," Hotch said, looking over the file in front of him. "Wheels up in 30." He glanced over the team before leaving the room.

"So who's ready to go to the home of the Gators?" Emily asked, closing her folder and standing.

"Bit your tongue, we're headed to Tally, not Gainesville: home of the Seminoles. I've got to call the TPD," Alicia flashed a hurried smile before going to her office.

"She went to FSU," Spencer said, walking closer to the screen to get a better look at the victims.

"There's a huge rivalry between FSU and the University of Florida," said Derek after seeing the look on Emily's face.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Yes, I am using FSU as the setting for the case. I just graduated from there, so it's the campus I know the best. All names of characters seen in the next chapters are just made up and aren't meant to represent anyone who/was an actual student there. However, the spots on and around the campus are real.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Detective Johnson? I'm Agent Weaver," Alicia reached out to shake the lead detective's hand before making introductions. They had just touched down at the Tallahassee about half an hour before and had hurried over to the police department. Johnson, eager to meet the FBI, had been waiting outside for them. Alicia and Morgan had driven, with her leading the way. Being a native definitely had its benefits; she never got to drive.

"I'm glad you're here," Johnson said. "This is getting way out of my league. Bringing in the big guns seemed like the thing to do."

"That's why we're here," Hotch stated. "Morgan, Dave, head to the crime scenes. Reid, go over the victims' apartments. Prentiss and I will look at the security on the campus. Weaver–"

"I'll the office set up and contact the press. They're having a field day with this." She pulled off her sunglasses and shoved them in her pocket before patting her hair down. The humidity was wrecking havoc with her hair, something she had forgotten about when waxing nostalgic about her college days.

"They're saying it's the return of Ted Bundy," Johnson huffed. "As if what happened to those five women wasn't bad enough, now they're being lumped in with this guy."

"The probability of two serial killers operating on the same college campus within half a century of each other is extremely low," Reid stated. Alicia nodded curtly before walking towards the room that the TPD had set aside for them.

"She's off today," Dave said as he walked out of the police department. "Usually Weaver's a bit more..."

"Nightmares," Reid offered. "She said she had a rough night." He thought about how she'd twitched in her sleep before bolting out of bed and to the bathroom.

"Huh. Cases must be getting to her."

"I think it's more than that," Emily stated, pulling off her jacket. She had forgotten how bad the heat was in Florida, especially in the late summer.

"No profiling each other," Reid reminded him gently before heading towards one of the SUVs the local FBI office had supplied them with.

OOO

"The FBI is urging to residents of Tallahassee to be aware of what's going on around you. Women especially should not travel alone and any suspicious activity should be report to the local police. Thank you," Alicia said, nodding to the assembled reporters. She would just make the five o'clock news.

"Think it'll work?" Johnson asked as she walked over to him.

"I hope so, but you know how it is around here. No one wants to hear that they shouldn't be headed to the Strip for the weekend," she smirked. The bars located right across the street from the FSU campus were a huge draw to the nearly 70,000 students from the various colleges in the city.

"You talk like you're a local."

"Go Noles," she smirked. "Should I sing the fight song?" Johnson chuckled and shook his head. "I'm taking this every bit as personally as you are. This is my home."

"Good, because between you and me, I'm wondering about your team, no offense. This is just another case for them. This is my town."

"I can guarantee you this isn't just another case. We devote all our resources to every case," she reassured him. "Would you mind giving me a ride to Ashley Holmes' apartment? The team wants to meet up." He agreed and they walked to his car, chatting about the FSU football team.

"Here we are," he said as they pulled into an apartment complex. Alicia felt herself pale as the drove past the gates and on a very familiar route.

"You have to go be kidding me," she breathed. He stopped right in front of her college apartment. "Please tell me it isn't 6332."

"Right on the nose." Reluctantly, she trudged up the steps with a strong sense of déjà vu. The other residents opened their doors and looked curiously at the increased police presence.

"-Look like there's much in common," Rossi was saying as Alicia entered the living room. He acknowledged her presence before continuing his discussion with Derek and Hotch. She walked to the back room on the left; Spencer was talking to someone.

It was like traveling back in time. The set up was pretty much the same, but Ashley had put her own touches on the wall. Posters of the most popular movies decorated the walls, as did a collage of her friends. Taped on the door was her class schedule, exactly as Alicia's had been. Unwelcome tears sprang to her eyes as she remembered the midnight talks she'd had with her best friends in this very room, watching The Golden Girls a two in the morning, and the hours she'd spent at that desk studying.

"Press release out?" Hotch asked as he entered the bedroom.

"Yeah, it'll make the 5 o'clock," she stated, tilting her head back. "Find anything here?"

"Nothing much," Spencer said. "It looks like she didn't spend much time reading her textbooks, but when she did, it was at a place called 'Club Stroze'."

"The library. It's called Strozier," Alicia supplied.

"Not much else in here," Emily stated, flipping through some of Ashley's clothes. "She was serious about her school gear." There was a lot of clothing with FSU and Seminoles written on it. Just like there had been four years before.

"I need some air." Alicia retreated to the balcony, quickly followed by Spencer.

"You okay?" She shook her head as her ears started ringing.

"I'm hot," she fanned herself while shrugging out of her jacket.

"The humidity's horrible," he replied, leaning against the railing. He felt a tug on his elbow and turned just in time to see Alicia begin to sag. "HOTCH!" he yelled as he caught the unconscious woman.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hey, just wanted to let you know that I've completed writing this story, and now will be posting chapters regularly. But at the same time, I'm going to be starting a new job, so the time of day will be sporadic. As of now, there are 22 chapters in this story, but I'm already formulating what I'll be doing for the sequel. I'm glad you're enjoying reading this! Please review to let me know what you think, good or bad =]


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"I swear, I'm fine," Alicia said for the millionth time. She was laying in the back seat of one of the SUVs.

"I don't care," Emily replied. "You're going to be check out at the hospital."

"All I need is a candy bar and some water. This has happened before." Usually her mother had followed it with a warning of _'You'll have to watch for that when you're pregnant'_. Alicia groaned and threw her arm over her eyes.

"I'm sure Hotch would let you off the case if you need it," Emily suggested, glancing at Alicia in the rearview mirror.

"No!" she sat up quickly but regretted it as another wave of dizziness washed over her. Em seemed to realize that and gave her a pointed look. "Listen, I'm not used to the humidity. And I was a bit overwhelmed about the victim living in my old apartment, but I'm going to be fine. I even have a theory about the dump sites!"

"What's that?" the SSA seemed interested.

"Ok, he's hit two of the fountains on campus: Westcott and the one on Landis. There's one more, the one by the football stadium. I don't know if he going only for the fountains, but he's putting the bodies in places that represent FSU. What if he moves to the statues? There are plenty of them around campus."

"Interesting. I'll talk to Hotch and Reid about it. But right now you're going to be checked out." They pulled into the closest parking spot to the hospital, and Alicia jumped out before Emily could help her. As it was, she was watching her a tad bit too closely for comfort.

Against her better judgment, Emily used her FBI credentials to get Alicia a little higher on the list. But they were still waiting for nearly an hour. They quietly discussed the case and possible places to get dinner. Alicia had been unanimously voted the one in charge of making the decisions because she was as close to a native as the team would get.

"Weaver!" one of the doctors yelled. She stood up and swayed on her feet a little. Emily grabbed her arm to steady her. The doctor, seeing the episode, strode over and helped her walk to the exam room. "So I see fainting seems to be the problem?"

"Yes, with ringing in the ears, hot flashes, and a bit of nausea," Alicia answered as the doctor took her blood pressure.

"Any possibility of pregnancy?" he asked.

"Yeah." Out of the corner of her eye, Alicia saw Emily give her a shocked look.

"Ok, here's what we're going to do. I'm going to order an EKG and a pregnancy test," he smiled at her. "I'll send the nurse in shortly to get everything ready." He scribbled something in her chart before exiting the room.

"Alicia!" Emily exclaimed. "What? Who? Since when?"

"Please, just let me get the results before you freak out on me, okay?"

"Kind of late for that," Emily muttered. "I didn't even know that you were dating someone. I thought you and Reid were flirting. Wait, REID?" So much for their relationship being a secret there are no secrets when your closest friends are profilers. "Is it Reid?"

"Emily," Alicia groaned.

"It so is!" the profiler yelled triumphantly. Alicia dodged past her just in time to puke in the trashcan.

OOO

"Weaver alright?" Rossi asked as Emily entered the police station. She glanced over to see that Spencer's hand had paused over the white board he was writing on.

"Yeah, fine. She just had low blood pressure. Doctor told her to take it easy for the rest of the day so I dropped her off at the hotel." They had detoured to the grocery store to get her some water, apples, and pretzels, her newest craving.

"Good," Hotch stated. "We're going to have to do press release soon. I don't want her out of the field for too long."

"She said she had a theory, though."

"Let's hear it," Derek smiled, leaning back in his chair. Emily chanced a smile at Spencer who nodded back.

OOO

"Hi," Spencer said when Alicia opened her room door. They hadn't really talked during dinner and apparently something was on his mind.

"Hey," she smiled before letting him in. "I have-"

"What happened-" They both started to say but stopped. "You first," Spencer offered.

"I have something to tell you," Alicia breathed. "But I think you should sit down first." Spencer gave her a curious look but didn't say anything as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"Remember this morning? Well, while I was in the bathroom and I, um, took a pregnancy test." Had it only been a day? God, this day seemed to last forever. "And today at the hospital…they confirmed that I'm, I mean we, well actually I mean I, am… pregnant."

"You're," he gulped, "preg-pregnant?" Alicia let the statement sink in before she sat down next to him.

"Breathe," she said, putting her hand on his knee. "In and out." Even though his mind processed information at a rapid rate, it took much longer than normal.

But when it did, he was stuck in the awkward position of not knowing how she felt and his feelings.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Do you have anything to say?" Alicia asked when Spencer had been silent for over five minutes. Tears sprang to her eyes as she studied his face.

"You're pregnant," he said again, in a bit firmer voice.

"Yes."

"You're pregnant," he repeated.

"Definitely," she said slowly. It was odd seeing him so…lost. "Talk to me! Tell me what you're thinking!"

"You're pregnant," his lips twitched. "How do you feel?"

"Terrified," she answered. "But excited." As those words left her lips, Spencer kissed her. His hand drifted down to her stomach, and when he pulled away, he looked like an excited little boy.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't really connect anything until this morning. I had a dream and then it all just made sense. Are you okay?"

"Me? I'm perfect. Wonderful. I have to call my mother," he said suddenly, jumping to his feet.

"Crap. I have to, too." As he barreled towards the door, she called for him to wait. Pausing, he was confused as she reached into her suit jacket pocket and pulled out an ultrasound picture. "This one is for you."

Spencer looked down at the first picture of his child and felt his heart stop briefly.

OOO

"Hey Mom," Alicia smiled into the phone.

"Hey baby, I was just watching you on the news. When were you going to tell us you were in Tallahassee?"

"As soon as I had a free minute," she replied. Hearing her mother's gentle scolding made Alicia's tilting world seem to stop. It was comforting to know that no matter what happened, her mother was always a voice of reason.

"So your dad and I were thinking we could head up there tomorrow, maybe catch some lunch or something. It's only a two hour drive, and since it's a Saturday, Evan will be out of school."

"That sounds great!" It would honesty be easier to give them the news face to face. They chatted about things that had been going on in the family. Alicia's older sister and her husband, who lived in Boston, were finally having their honeymoon since he had finished medical school and they had enough money saved up. Her younger sister was doing well in Pittsburg, trying to get through college to be a teacher. Evan was having a bit of trouble at school but they were working it out.

They said their goodnights and made plans to meet up the next day. As she was hanging up, someone knocked on her door. Sighing and heaving herself to her feet, Alicia trudged to the door and opened it.

"Did you tell him?" Emily asked, rushing in.

"You are such a busy body!" Alicia giggled, closing the door behind her. Emily planted herself on Alicia's bed, crossing her legs, ready to gossip. Alicia was reminded forcefully of the nights at her college apartment.

"Tell me everything," Emily demanded. "How long have you been dating?" Smiling, Alicia started to talk about their meeting in the bookstore, him helping her prepare for the job, etc. Emily asked questions every once in a while but remained silent for the most part.

"Now you tell me, how did you know?"

"Well I kind of saw you guys at the park one day. Reid was playing chess with some kid and you were reading. I thought it was a coincidence until I saw you leave together."

"Stalker," Alicia teased before clapping a hand over her mouth as she yawned.

"Alright, Mamma, time for you to sleep. I'll see you in the morning," Emily grinned. Alicia reached out to hug her best friend on the team and grinned.

"I kinda thought Spence would come back, but oh well. He's probably still talking to his mom or writing her letter." The women walked to the door and hugged again before saying goodnight. "Thanks keeping this a secret. I swear we'll tell everyone soon." Emily waved off the thanks before returning to her room.

Smiling, the pregnant walked back to her bed and slipped between the sheets before flicking off the bedside lamp. One hand curled around her stomach as she drifted off to sleep.

OOO

"Hello," Alicia said groggily, answering the damn ringing phone. Her bleary eyes tried to focus on the clock, which read 3:28.

"Agent Weaver? We've got a new body," Detective Johnson spat. "Right outside the damn stadium."

"I'll get everybody up. We'll be there soon." They disconnected as she struggled out of bed and threw on her sweatshirt. One quick walk down the hall and she was standing outside of her supervisor's room.

"Hotch," she whispered, knocking on the door.

"I just got the call," he said without opening the door. "Get everyone else." Nodding at the door, Alicia retraced her steps, pausing to knock on every team member's door. Spence opened his quickly.

"What's wrong?"

"Have you slept?" Alicia asked, taking in his wrinkled shirt and pants.

"No."

"Little early for a wake up call," Dave growled, pulling open his door.

"Get dressed. We're headed to the campus." Alicia looked at the sleepy assembly in the hall before returning to her room, wishing that there were time for a shower.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"The time between kills has decreased," Spencer said as he snapped on his latex gloves. "It's only been four days since Ashley was killed." He leaned over the low brick wall and studied the crime scene with detached interest. They'd turned off the fountain as soon as the body had been discovered, so there was little risk of the crime scene being compromised more than it already had been.

"Who found the body?" Hotch asked. Johnson pointed to a group of huddled girls standing by the baseball stadium. He gave a pointed look to Dave and Alicia, so they separated from the group and walked over to them. Alicia suppressed a shudder as she looked at the looming building that surrounded the stadium, also housing the main offices of the campus.

"Hi, I'm Agent Weaver and this is SSA Rossi. We were wondering if you could answer a couple of questions for us."

"Is she really dead?" one of the girls asked.

"Yes. How did you come across her?" Dave asked, pulling out his little black notebook. The floodlights that had been brought in barely gave them enough light.

"We were walking back from AJ's and thought we'd cut across here to get back to the dorms. We live just over there," her friend answered, pointing to a building just across the parking lot. They'd been so close to having the end to a fun evening.

"Any reason you walked by the fountain?"

"We just wanted to cool our feet," a third girl said, motioning to the high heels hanging in her hands. "Everyone does it." Alicia nodded a little when Dave gave her a curious look.

"Can we go home now?" the first girl asked. She was visibly shaking and pale, obviously shaken up by the whole experience.

"One last question. Do you have any idea who she is?" Alicia asked. All of the girls shook their head except for one. "Do you?" she zeroed in on the second girl.

"Well, she looks kinda like this girl in my freshman Criminology seminar." Dave took down the information before Alicia walked the three over to a waiting police officer that would escort them back to their dorm.

"What in the hell is going on here, on my damn campus!" an irate older man yelled as he jumped out of an SUV that had pulled up to the curb. He slammed the car door and blew past the officers, stomping over to the crime scene.

"Sir, we need to you stay back," Hotch said in a warning tone.

"You damn FBI agents were supposed to put a stop to all this. I want this done with yesterday! My students are scared out of their wits!" Obviously this was the president of the university.

"Sir, I'm Agent Weaver," Alicia cut him off, reaching out to shake his hand. He glared down at it before sweeping past her as well. Derek moved to intercept him; apparently the President handled male authority better than a woman.

"Jerk," Emily muttered, walking over to Alicia. "Get anything out of the witnesses?"

"Not much; they were walking home from the sports bar and took a short cut," Alicia replied, inhaling deeply to stave off the rolling in her stomach. Morning sickness. Great.

"I'm to the PD if you want to tag along. Hotch wants us to look over missing people reports and get run her prints. Hopefully we'll get lucky," Emily cast a glance at the fountain again, watching as the forensics team removed the young girl's body. Shaking her head, she looked back to the rather nauseous woman next to her. "Plus, we'll have a bathroom. You look like you're going to hurl." Alicia nodded, closing her eyes and clutching her stomach.

"Hey Weaver! I'm going to need your help with something," Johnson said as he walked up to the women. "The big man doesn't seem to think that cancelling the football game today is a good idea."

"This is an active crime scene," Emily protested.

"You got that right. He's putting up a fit about how the other team's here, the ticket sales, you know, money stuff. But it's going to be done if I have to get the damn Governor out of bed to order him to do it. So we're going to have a lot of press."

"On it," Alicia stated, exhaling heavily as the nausea passed. "Press release, mass email to the students and boosters, the school alert system…"

OOO

"Honestly, why do all of the bad guys seem to have the worst timing," Penelope groaned. Alicia chuckled and put the put the phone on speaker.

"I'm sorry but you're not the only one having an early morning. You even got to sleep in compared to us."

"Doesn't make this any better. Now what I can do for you my little cupcake?"

"I need a list of students enrolled in a freshman Criminology seminar. One of the witnesses thinks she knows the victim."

"Coming up. And eliminating all male students… other parameters? We've still got about 50 girls."

"She's a brunette with brown eyes."

"Still have thirty."

"We still don't have the crime photos uploaded, so send me the list and the student ID pictures. I'll work off of those."

"Will do. Can I head back to bed now?"

"I'm done for now but the rest of the team may need something," Alicia sighed. "Get some shut eye at the office while you can."

"Garcia get anything?" Emily asked, returning with her coffee and Alicia's tea and Danish. Her coworker was pulling up her email and scanning through photos. After explaining what had happened, they looked for their victim.

"Megan Martin," Alicia read, having finally found their girl. Emily called the rest of the team with the preliminary identification while Alicia called Penelope for a full background check. It only took a few minutes for the documents to be sent to their phones.

"She was only eighteen," Emily sighed.

"God damn it," Alicia breathed. "She's lived about thirty minutes away from me. My little sister dated her brother." Emily looked down at the new agent again.

"What are the odds of that?"

"What do you mean?"

"We come to your university, one of victims lived in your old apartment and another's sibling dated your sister. This seems like a lot more than a coincidence." Alicia pushed back from the desk and rubbed her eyes.

"Please tell me that you aren't suggesting that this has to do with me or my family." The other agent took a deep breath before excusing herself.

* * *

**Author's Note**: I thought I'd be nice and post 2 chapters today since there is a possibility that there won't be one tomorrow, as I'll be spending the afternoon at a bar with one of my best friends watching FSU take on Oklahoma.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Hey, honey, we're taking the exit now," Mrs. Weaver said as Alicia answered her phone.

"Oh god, Mom, I meant to call you," Alicia groaned, leaving the group of officers assembled on the campus.

"Are you busy?"

"Yeah. But I do need to talk to you guys. I'll call you back in a few minutes." Feeling her stomach drop, she strode over to where Hotch was talking to Dave. "Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"What is it?" Hotch asked, leading her away from Dave.

"My parents are in town and with what Emily said this morning, I think I need to talk to them. They at least deserve a heads up as to what's going on." He contemplated that for a moment.

"It's probably for the best. Do you want me to send an officer with you?"

"No, they need to focus on keeping everyone away from here." Their announcement about the football game being cancelled hadn't gone over as well as they'd hoped. A lot of students had shown up drunk demanding that the game go on, regardless that one of their classmates had died. "If you could spare Reid or Emily, though, they might be able to help me explain it to my family better."

"Emily went to the morgue with Morgan and Reid's working on the geographical profile. If he's done, he can go with you." Alicia thanked her superior before hurrying to one of the cars, dialing her parents as she walked. They made plans to meet at a restaurant right off the highway. After that she called her boyfriend.

"Care to meet my parents?"

OOO

"Just be calm, okay?" Alicia demanded for the millionth time as she pulled into the parking lot. As she threw the car into park, the doors of the one next to them flew open.

"Hey!" an older man grinned, hurrying around to her door. Alicia couldn't help the ridiculously large smile from her face as her father hugged her. Her mother was not far behind, but her brother dragged his feet.

"You're looking old, Dad," she teased, pointing to his black hair that was peppered with silver. He pointed to a large patch in the front.

"That's all you, babe." Mrs. Weaver gently hit her husband's arm. Spencer could see traces of Alicia in this woman's face. Her kind chocolate eyes studied him as he smiled nervously. Parents.

"That's Evan's."

"Thanks Mom," the carbon copy of their dad groaned, hugging his sister. His brown eyes roamed her face. "You look beat."

"Early morning. Guys, I'd like to introduce you to my boyfriend, Dr. Spencer Reid." He had stood off to the side watching the family reunion with a bemused smirk. "Spence, this is my dad, John, my mother, Kathleen, and my brother, Evan." The two male Weaver's shook Spencer's hand, but Kathleen hugged him.

"It's so nice to finally meet you," Kathleen smiled. She, like her daughter, was only tall enough to reach his shoulders.

"Thanks, you too," Spencer replied. "We should probably get inside." He and Alicia shared a look before quickly ushering the Weaver clan into the restaurant. They also made sure that they were seated away from the windows.

"What's going on?" John asked, noticing the way the two federal agents were looking around. The retired Air Force chief recognized the intense look in his daughter's hazel eyes; that look had often been in his when he was working on a particularly difficult repair.

"Alicia?" Kathleen prodded when her second child remained quiet. Their waitress joined them at the table and took their orders, Alicia only having an order of toast and Spencer taking some coffee. She tried not to wrinkle her nose at the smell of eggs cooking; it was making her stomach clench in an uncomfortable way, and the last thing she wanted to do was spend this time in the bathroom.

"I'm sure you've been following this case," she said in a low voice. Her family leaned closer to catch her words.

"It's all over the news," Evan replied. Alicia nodded at her little brother before looking at Spencer.

"We've recently become aware of a possible connection between some of the victims and your family."

"What do you mean?" John spat.

"One of the girls lived in my apartment," Alicia supplied, raising a hand to cut off her mother. "I know it could be anything but this morning brought some new evidence. Do you remember Tyler Martin? Sam dated him in high school."

"She dated a lot of guys," Evan smirked. The youngest of the Weaver girls, Samantha, had been popular with the guys; after all, she was gorgeous.

"We found his sister, Megan this morning."

"Oh dear," Kathleen gasped. "Is she alright?" The silence answered her question.

"I've already contacted the local PD and they're going to increase patrols around the neighborhood. All of this could be a coincidence, but I don't want to take any chances."

"Better safe than sorry," John nodded. "I'll make sure that we get the house locked down."

"And Evan, I need you to stop sneaking off campus, okay? I know the food in the cafeteria sucks, but deal with it," the older sister ordered. He scoffed as she punched his arm. "My little one's going to need his or her uncle, alright?" That shocked the family into silence. Spencer grinned again.

"Little one?" Kathleen breathed. "Are you… are you pregnant?" Alicia grinned and nodded as her mother gave an excited squeak. "My baby's having a baby!"

"Shh! Mom," Alicia hushed. Her mother stood up and pulled her daughter into a hug before making Evan move to a different chair.

"You better take good care of her," John threatened, reaching to shake Spencer's hand again.

"I plan on it," Spencer replied. Alicia grinned as her mother bombarded her with questions.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

As Spencer and Alicia climbed back into their company car, her cell phone started ringing. "Weaver."

"Do you have your gun with you?" Dave questioned.

"Of course," she replied, confusion coloring her voice. She waved at her parents as they pulled out of the restaurant and headed back towards the highway. Kathleen had already started planning out what she was going to buy her first grandchild. Alicia's sisters, whom had been equally as thrilled when they'd been called from breakfast, were conspiring with them mother on gifts for their first niece or nephew.

"Get back to the station ASAP," he demanded before hanging up. The cryptic phone call peaked Spencer's interest as he flipped the siren on. It took less than five minutes for them to get to the station, cutting through the traffic and using the short cuts Alicia knew.

"You're family's warned?" Hotch asked as she stepped into the PD.

"Yeah, they're headed home now. What the hell happened?"

"There's been a threat against you and Prentiss. We found this in the latest victim's throat," he stated, handing over an evidence bag that contained a paper. Both Emily and Alicia's pictures were on it, along with a message: _They would be a nice addition to my collection._ A silver rectangle had been drawn over their mouths and red slashes on their wrists. After looking over it, she handed it off to Spencer.

"Where's Emily?" Alicia asked. Hotch motioned for the two agents to follow him to the room they'd set up in. "Did we get anything from this at all?"

"Nothing. We've delivered the profile to the police and they're on the look out, but the stadium is keeping everyone preoccupied."

"It's surprising that we haven't managed to get any forensics on him so far," Spencer stated. "It's almost as though he's been trained in the countermeasures."

"TV shows kind of give a lot of them away," Derek said as they entered the room. "But this guy, he's good."

"You know, have we looked at the different classes offered here?" Alicia asked. "Some of the professors might be able to help us out. I know for a fact that we've some pretty good scientists here." Her roommate had often complained about how hard the professors rode the students. Perfection, perfection, perfection!

"We've got the FBI lab," said Dave.

"These guys are local, they know the campus, and they might see something that we don't," she countered.

"It's worth a shot," Spencer added. "They might give us an idea of who this Unsub is if he's a student." They had been tossing around the idea for a few hours. FSU had a criminology department that taught forensics. This guy was good and obviously educated so there was a possibility that he was studying at the university.

"Ok, Weaver, call the dean and set up an appointment for Reid and Rossi. Then I want you on the phone with the university President. He has to start looking at the possibility of shutting the campus down."

OOO

"Do you ever notice that when we're on a case, the days seem to drag?" Penelope asked over the speakerphone.

"Do I ever," Alicia replied, trying to stifle a yawn. "Now what do you have for me?"

"Alright, I've run everything on these girls that I can get my hands on. On the surface it looks like the only thing they've got in common is the school. However, I dug a little deeper and found out that they all were registered in a class together."

"I didn't see that on their schedules." Confused, Alicia walked to the evidence board and looked at the victims' class time tables.

"Ah, that's because they aren't. However, all of them were enrolled in a beginner's criminology class at the beginning of the semester. Ashley Holmes and Lindsey Carlson both dropped out of the class in the first week."

"Drop/Add week, yeah, everyone does it. Same course section?"

"Yes, and it seems like this professor has a thing for the younger ladies. He's been reported for sexual harassment by some of the graduate students."

"Name?"

"Doctor George Webber."

"I'll get the team on it. Thank you, Penelope!"

"Hey, I heard you fainted, is everything alright?" the analyst said quickly before she was hung up on.

"Oh yeah, everything's perfect," Alicia grinned into the phone.

OOO

They were unable to get a meeting with any of the professors or the president that day so the team went out for dinner. It would be better to look over the case again with fresh eyes.

"So wait, you're telling me that you would rather cut off your own arm than wear this?" Derek teased, holding up a University of Florida hat.

"Frankly, I'm insulted that you have it in my presence," Alicia replied, taking a bit of her Chicken Parmesan.

"What about this one?" Another hat was produced, decorated with the orange and green 'U' for University of Miami. She didn't dignify that with an answer; they rivalry with UM was nearly as bad as with UF.

"Ugh, sir, please remove those from the restaurant," the waiter laughed as he came up to refill their drinks.

"The hatred runs deep, my friends, the hatred runs deep," Alicia stated as the team laughed. They chatted about everything except for the case, appreciating that the Bureau would be picking up the bill for the evening. Satisfied with the meal, they gathered their things and exited the restaurant, hearing their beds call for them.

That was, until they found a picture under one of their SUV's windshield wipers.

_Her. I want her._

The picture was of Emily Prentiss.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I mean no offense to any Cane or Gator fans. However, I am a Nole and bleed Garnet and Gold! So, as my character is a Nole as well, I made her the same. I was gutted by out loss this weekend to Oklahoma, but I met some nice fans at the bar that bought a couple rounds of beer for me and a friend. Also, please take a few seconds to let me know what you think! It's kind of discouraging to see how many people are reading this and having so few actually let me know their reaction to it. Is it too unrealistic? Too much drama? Not enough case? Do I need to have more Spencer and Alicia scenes? This will help me direct the sequel that I'm planning and writing now. Honestly, I hate begging for reviews, but I've made it so that those with an account, and those without (and I know there are a lot of visitors that read this) can leave comments =]


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"No," Emily protested the next day. "I'm not going to sit behind while you all work. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"He's targeted you," an exasperated Hotch said again. "You need to understand that."

"I do, I honestly do, but I won't let him scare me. If anything I need to be out there showing him that I don't care."

Dave and Spencer had already left to interview Dr. Webber at the Criminology Department, and Derek was preparing to go to talk to the president about possibly shutting down the campus. Emily wanted to go but Hotch was not having that.

Alicia, however, was trying to keep from tossing her cookies for the third time that morning.

"You alright?" Detective Johnson asked as he came in with his coffee.

"Fine," she breathed, rubbing a hand across her forehead. Hotch and Emily temporarily broke off their fight to look over at her. Plastering a fake smile on her lips, Alicia stood up straight and grabbed the folder next to her. "The local press wants more information on what's going on, especially after Megan. I don't know what to tell them without tipping off the Unsub."

"Right now, nothing. We need to keep this under wraps at the moment, especially the possibility of closing the campus. If he thinks his killing pool is going to dry up, he might go on a spree."

"That could be a problem," Johnson said slowly. "They're already reporting that." All eyes in the room snapped to the older detective.

"I don't know how I missed that," a panicked Alicia snapped, grabbing the team's laptop and pulling up the Tallahassee Democrat's website. And there it was, the first link on the page: **Florida State University to Close After Rash of Murders**.

"Take care of it," Hotch ordered but it was unnecessary; Alicia was already on the phone with the newspaper editor. He listened to her demand to the link be taken down to no avail.

"You have no idea what this will do to the investigation," she hissed. The phones in the precinct had already started to ring off the hook. Hotch motioned for her to hand him the phone and left the room as she complied. Johnson was called by a co-worker and followed Hotch out. "Damn it, how did I miss that?"

"Don't beat yourself up about it," Emily said. "We all passed out last night, and it's been a busy morning."

"This is my job, Em," she countered. "I'm supposed to be on top of this."

"You couldn't have known that someone would leak the information."

"At least they haven't gotten a hold of the threats against you," Alicia glanced up. "You know he's only going on about it because he cares, right?"

"Yes, but you need to watch yourself as well. Reid will freak out if something happens to the both of you." Emily shot a significant look at Alicia's stomach. Instinctually, the pregnant woman wrapped her arms around her growing baby.

"I know, I haven't forgotten that he called us both out. And I'll freak if something happens to you, okay? Because I need kind of a huge favor from you."

"Name it," the dark haired woman said quickly.

"Spence and I talked about it and we want you to be this one's God Mother."

Emily quickly covered the ground between them and folded Alicia in a hug. "Of course! Oh my god, I'd love to."

"Love to what?" Hotch asked as he reentered the room.

"Help me get the editor to take the story down," Alicia said quickly, wiping away the tears that had sprung to her eyes. "I really dropped the ball on this one, Hotch. I apologize."

"You couldn't have stopped this from happening. Johnson is looking into the leak, but yes, I think Prentiss should go with you to the office. Show them the full force of the FBI if you need to."

"So have Garcia on speed dial?" Emily chuckled.

"Of course."

OOO

"Webber's not our guy. He's a perv, but not a killer," Dave stated as he stepped out of the campus building.

"I agree," Spencer said. "If he was the Unsub there would be a sexual component to the murders. Simply leaving the victims nude is more a sign of disrespect then a sexual overtone."

"Hey, you guys are with the FBI, right?" a young woman asked, walking up to them slowly.

"Yes. I'm Agent Rossi and this is Dr. Reid," Dave answered, flashing his badge.

"You're here about the murders, right? Those three girls?"

"Yes."

"I've been meaning to come talk to you, but… I've been scared, to tell the truth," she leaned forward, lowering her voice.

"Of what?" Spencer asked.

"I think… I think the same guy attacked me earlier this year."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Thank you for the reviews =] Constructive criticism is always appreciated! There are 8 chapters left in this story and I'm working on the sequel, which I will be posting soon after this one ends. I'm glad that people are enjoying this!


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Can I get you anything?" Emily asked the young woman sitting next to her.

"A soda?" she asked timidly. The agent smiled at her before going to the vending machine and getting one for her.

"Laura, you said that you think the Unsub might have attacked you?" Hotch asked. Spencer and Dave standing behind their boss, something that was obviously intimidating her. Emily shooed them away after giving Laura the soda.

"Thanks," she gave Emily a gracious smile before turning back to Hotch. "I was walking to my car a few months ago, during the summer session, and I was mugged."

"Did you report it?"

"Yeah, but the campus police said they didn't think they would catch the guy."

"Can you describe what happened?" Laura looked at Em before grabbing her hand and squeezing it tightly. Terror filled her blue eyes.

"It's okay," Emily said soothingly.

"He snuck up behind me, I didn't even hear him coming. He pushed me up against a car, said if I screamed he'd kill me, and started to…he pushed against me and smelled my hair. A shaking hand shot up to smooth down her blond locks. "And then he pulled out a gun. He put it to my head and told me to give him my wallet and started to reach under my shirt. My daddy told me if I was ever mugged, to just give him the stuff."

"Good advice," Hotch agreed.

"Well, I gave him my wallet and he looked at my license and said 'Laura, aren't you quite the little whore'. I swear, I'm not," she added quickly. "He kept smelling me and saying that I didn't deserve him. I managed to get my mace out and… he wasn't too happy about that. After I got him in the eyes he shoved me and high tailed it out of there."

"Did you get a good look?" Emily asked. Laura nodded and took a sip of her soda. "Would you mind sitting down with a sketch artist? It could help us catch him." When Laura agreed, she escorted her towards the back of the building.

"So?" Dave demanded.

"It's him," Hotch replied. "She saw his face so she's going to talk to the skech artist."

"The story's off of the Democrat, but national media has picked up on it now," Alicia said as she walked towards the team. She tossed Hotch the keys to the SUV and sat down on one of the desks. "They want answers and they're prepared to wait outside until they get some."

"We might have something for them soon," Spencer supplied. "Would a police sketch help out?"

"It might cause a witch hunt," Alicia sighed. "What about the profile? I can rerelease that with any other details we have."

"Do that. Let them know that we're consulting with the university on student safety measures, emphasize the increased patrols and tell them we're instituting a curfew," Hotch said.

"I see Derek got further with the President than I did," she smirked. "Chauvinistic bastard."

"Actually it was the governor. He decided that if we didn't get this under control in the next 48 hours, he's shutting down all of the campuses in the city," Derek said, joining the group. "We're working under a deadline now."

OOO

"Look at this," Emily groaned, reading the police report on Laura Ingram's mugging. "They didn't do a through investigation."

"They don't exactly have the biggest budgets," Alicia sighed, leaning back in her chair and popping a pretzel in her mouth. "Plus, there are muggings aren't that uncommon on this campus."

"You're just painting a glowing picture of your alma mater," Derek added, snagging one of her pretzels. Alicia smacked his hand before pulling she small bag closer to herself. Emily chuckled and thought how dangerous it was to steal food from a pregnant woman. Not that Derek knew what he was doing.

"Don't get me wrong, I love FSU, but crime rate sucks. That and parking. You guys are lucky we can park in faculty parking because otherwise we would be circling the garages for a long time looking for a spot. It's pretty cut throat."

"It can't be that bad."

"Forty-thousand students, and only twenty parking lots. I saw a girl key someone's car once for stealing a spot."

"Seriously?" Spencer asked, turning from the white board he was writing on.

"Cut throat," she grinned. "What are you working on?"

"I'm doing a composite of all we have on the Unsub. I feel like we're missing something that's right in front of us."

"Ok, let's hear it," Derek said.

"We've profiled him as between twenty and thirty, which encompasses a large portion of the student body and some of the professors. He's Caucasian because all of his victims are, but he's all over the place as to victimology: hair and eye color, age, major… The only connection we've managed to find is a class that two of them dropped out of. And then there's the possible connection to Alicia," he glanced over at her.

"I really don't think that's a factor anymore," she protested. "It's just a coincidence with the apartment and my sister having dated a victim's sibling. Plus, he's more fixated on Emily now."

"Which he could be doing just to intimidate us," Emily added.

"Either way, he's smart," Dave said from the doorway. "Weaver, the press is asking for you."

"Great," Alicia sighed while pushing away from the desk and looking at her watch. "The sketch is going to hit the five o'clock news."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Hey," Alicia smiled sleepily as she opened her hotel room door. Spencer was standing there with an apple and a bag of pretzels. She stepped back to let him in and shut the door behind him. When she turned, he was standing by the small table on the opposite side of the room.

"Working still?" he asked, looking over the scattered papers.

"Just about to turn in," she answered, glancing at the clock. The red letters showed that it was nearly midnight. Normally she worked until two in the morning, but the pregnancy was making her tired all the time. It didn't help that it had started raining and the sound of the raindrops hitting the window was lulling her to sleep.

"Yeah?" Spencer smiled and put his gifts down on the table before lying on the bed. He opened his arms to her and she gladly walked over to him, relishing in the comfort as he enfolded her in his warm, uniquely Spencer scent.

"Long day," she breathed, closing her eyes.

"Very," he replied. "Hard morning?" As much as he wanted to be with her every morning to help take care of her, he couldn't. They had agreed that while on a case they wouldn't spend the night together; it would be too easy for them to be caught. It was risky for them to be spending this much time together as it was.

"Morning sickness is the worst. However, I did appreciate someone leaving me ginger ale and crackers." When she'd woken up, they'd been sitting next to the TV. Spencer smiled, kissing her hair; he'd snuck in the night before and left them for her. It was the least he could do.

"I have a question for you," he said after a long pause. With one hand, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet-covered box.

"What?" Alicia asked, not opening her eyes. He shifted under her so that he was leaning against the headboard. She let out a soft groan and sat up, opening her bleary eyes to see him smiling nervously.

"Will you marry me?" Spencer opened the small box and pulled out a diamond ring. Alicia's mouth dropped as she realized what was happening. "I'd get down on one knee but since I got shot…"

"No, don't," she breathed. Closing her eyes against the tears that had flooded her eyes, she reached over and wrapped her arms around his neck. She hesitated a moment before leaning in to kiss him and then rested her forehead against his.

"Is that a yes?" excitement colored his voice.

"No."

"No?" he asked, pulling away

"Yes," she said, opening her eyes. Seeing the confusion in his eyes, she kissed him again. "I don't want to get married now." Resisting the urge to pull away even more, Spence reached up and brushed way the tears that had fallen on her cheeks.

"Why not? I love you, you love me, and we have a baby on the way."

"Exactly. I don't want to marry you because of the baby. You don't have an obligation to propose just because of our situation," she reached over and took his hand, gently placing it on her stomach. "Honestly, are you doing it because I'm pregnant?" He was quiet for a moment.

"It's definitely pushed me to do it sooner than I expected."

"See?" she kissed him again. "We've got enough changes going on now, why add another?"

"I do want to marry you, though," he stated, slowly moving his hand underneath her shirt.

"I want that too," she said, tangling her hands in his hair. "But how about we move in together first." He nodded before kissing her, sliding them down the bed so that he was lying on top of her. Any conversation that might have happened was quickly forgotten.

That is, until someone knocked on the door.

Spencer scrambled out of the bed and smoothed down his hair as Alicia adjusted her shirt. "Just a minute!" she called. He looked around the room, somewhat panicked before sitting down at the table and pulling a folder close to him. She glanced at herself in the mirror, not liking how flushed her skin was but unable to do anything about it. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door to see Derek standing there.

"Hey, I need your help with something," he stated, his hands buried in his back pocket.

"What is it?" she asked, motioning for him to come into the room. "Spencer and I were working on the case." The older agent strode across the room and looked over the files.

"See anything?"

"Not really," Spencer said. "But it doesn't hurt to look over it again."

"That's why I want you to come out to the scenes with me," Derek said, turning to look at Alicia. "You know this campus better than of us."

"Ok, I'll get dressed," she nodded, grabbing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt from her bag before going to the bathroom.

"What is it about this guy?" Derek asked, grabbing a crime scene photo. "Why can't we get him?"

"He's studied our methods," Spencer said, grabbing hold of the coroner's report on Megan Martin. "Listen: 'Traces of a powder was found on the victim's lips. Nails were recently cut and painted.' He knows the countermeasures we would look for. He even managed to keep the tape clean, no fingerprints or fibers."

"Ready," Alicia announced as she came out of the bathroom. She grabbed her gun holster and strapped it around her waist before slipping on her shoes.

"What if he isn't one of the professors, but a student in the Criminology? He'd have to be well versed in forensics-"

"There's an undergrad student forensics club," offered, walking to her colleagues.

"No, they'd have to be more informed, a graduate student. FSU offers a masters and doctoral program," he recalled, having seen the advertisement for it in the college.

"Call Garcia and have her compile a list of men matching the profile. Weaver and I are going to go look around the campus.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"God, it's been forever since I've been here," Alicia sighed as Derek parked the car.

"Really? I thought you were here earlier this week."

"Nope, haven't made it over." The exited the car and started to walk towards the first crime scene. "I had my language and anthropology classes in that building," she pointed to the left.

"Ok, so if I'm trying to get here as quickly as possible without being seen, how do I do it?"

"There's a parking lot across the street but it's a bit far. Plus, there's a chance that someone could be here swimming in the fountain." Derek gave her an odd look. "It's a tradition, you do it on your birthday."

"Did you?"

"When I turned 21," she admitted. "I was kind of drunk and my friends threw me in."

"Nice. So what's the quickest way to get to the next scene?" She started walking quickly, her feet travelling the well-worn path she'd trod at least three times a week for years.

"It'd be harder to get away with it on the Green. There's always people going in and out of the library, and there's a dorm that stands the top. But he could get a car there more easily." They traveled to the halfway point of the campus in less than three minutes. Derek was surprised by how quickly his short partner walked. "See?"

They looked up to see a group of students standing on the around the second crime scene. The two agents hurried towards the small assembly. "Hey!" Derek called, startling the group. "There's a curfew in effect, you know."

"Dude, there was a dead girl in there and they won't let us near it during the day," one of the boys said.

"Dude," Alicia mocked. "You're way out of line. Where are you supposed to be?" The smell of stale beer hung around the thee guys and two girls.

"We live in Salley Hall," one of the girls giggled.

"It's a dorm across campus," Alicia told Derek. "We can escort them back there and then hit the other scene."

"We don't have to go with you guys," the second boy said, puffing his chest out.

"Yeah, you do. We're FBI and there's a killer out here," Derek pointed out. The five looked at each other before giving in. The two agents corralled them and started walking them towards the dorm. Alicia led the group past Bellamy, where her college was located, and tried to ignore the complaining the group was doing. They were lucky that they weren't being taken in for questioning or being reported.

"You've got to be kidding me," Derek groaned as the Unity Statue came into view; another two people were standing by it. The taller of the two seemed to be helping the other one along. "Does no one understand what a curfew means?"

"Hey!" Alicia called out. The figure, a man, turned towards them and released the person he was holding. "Do you need some help?" She motioned for the group behind them to stop walking as she and Derek moved towards the new comers. They could feel that something was wrong because the man didn't answer them.

"FBI, answer us," Derek demanded, his hand reaching for his gun. But it was too late.

"HIT THE GROUND!" Alicia yelled as a shot rang out. The five they were escorting screamed and scattered as the agents rushed the suspect. He bolted, leaving his victim behind. Alicia paused to check the woman's pulse, and nearly retched as she recognized the victim. Laura Ingram was already dead, complete with duck tape over her mouth. "It's our Unsub!"

"Call Hotch!" Derek yelled over his shoulder; he was in pursuit already. Alicia hit the speed dial and took off after the two.

"Hotchner," their supervisor answered.

"Unsub headed northwest on Call Street," she huffed. "Black hoodie and jeans. In pursuit now."

"Got it."

"Body dumped at Unity Statue. Laura Ingram."

"Be careful." It only took a few minutes for her to hear sirens pierce the silence.

"MORGAN!" she shrieked, unable to see where her team member had gone. The end of the campus was quickly coming into view and still no sign of them. When her phone started ringing, she quickly answered it when she saw who it was.

"I lost him," Derek breathed heavily. "I'm by what looks like a track."

"Be there in a second."

"No, got back and secure the body. Tell me how to get back." She gave him directions as she jogged back to the Statue, flagging down one of the police that pulled up next to her.

"There's five students who are over near the Union probably scared out of their wits. Get their names and then get them back to Salley." The uniformed officer nodded and sped off in the direction after Alicia had turned down his offer for a ride. Ignoring the stitch in her side, she hurried back to the fourth victim.

OOO 

"You okay?" Emily asked, hurrying over to where Alicia and Derek were talking to the first responders.

"Yeah, fine," Derek answered for them. Alicia nodded, still breathing heavily from her unexpected exercise.

"Hotch wants to talk to you guys. What were you doing out here?"

"Going over the case," he said. "I dragged Weaver out since she knows the campus best."

"We found some students who wanted to see the crime scenes and were taking them back to the dorms when we saw him," Alicia explained. Their boss broke away from his conversation with Detective Johnson and strode over to his agents.

"Reid and Rossi are going to the PD. I want you two to with them. Garcia has a list of all male criminology students and I want you to find him. You've given your statements?" When they said yes, he dismissed them. He and Emily were going to interview the five witnesses.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I do apologize for not posting yesterday. I was out with my family and didn't get back until late. Then I read some reviews/messages and decided to alter some of the chapters. Hopefully you enjoyed this!


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"There are over 500 possibles?" Dave groaned.

"Sorry, but FSU has a very prestigious criminal justice program," Penelope explained. "I've already factored out all of the women and those too old or young. If you have anything else, now would be the time to tell me."

"He'll have taken a lot of courses in forensics," Spencer said. He was silently fuming at how close to being shot Alicia had been. The rational part of him understood that this was part of her job and he should respect it. The irrational boyfriend and father to her child was about to force her to fly back to Quantico and take an office job. Not that she would listen.

"Not helping. It's a required for them to take evidence collection classes which would cover that." Alicia looked at her watch and saw that it was nearing four in the morning. As if on waiting for her to acknowledge the time, her stomach clenched. Inhaling sharply, she put a hand over her eyes and tried to relax.

"You okay?" Dave asked.

"Tired," she replied. "I'm going to grab something to drink." Quickly, she stood up and headed back into the main part of the station. Most of the desks were empty but there was a shift change coming up soon. After snagging a bottle of water and a stale donut (the doctor had told her eating would ease the queasiness), she headed back to their office.

One of the empty desk phones started to ring. It had been delegated for the tip line, so Alicia walked over to it, grabbing a pad of paper from the desk drawer before answering it. "Tip line," she said.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH!" the person screamed on the other line. Alicia jerked the phone from her ear and motioned frantically for the team.

"I'm sorry, sir, what seems to be the problem?" she said as calmly as she could. Spencer finally looked up and hurried out, followed by the Dave and Derek.

"I DIDN'T GET TO… YOU INTERRUPTED ME!"

'The Unsub' she mouthed, pointing to the phone. Derek pulled out his cell and dialed Penelope. "I'm sorry about that, I know it must have upset you."

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING!"

"Baby Girl, he's on the phone with Weaver right now." Spencer grabbed the paper and wrote what she should say.

"Why don't you explain to me?" Dave reached over and hit the speakerphone button.

"No, I'm not going to play with you, Agent Weaver," he growled. "I'm sure you're tracing my call now. Read the note. Goodbye."

"Damn it!" Alicia shrieked as she slammed the phone back onto the cradle.

"Anything Garcia?" Derek asked. He shook his head and walked away from the group, still talking to the analyst.

"You did everything you could," Dave said, squeezing the youngest agent's shoulder. She jumped up and ran over to the bathroom, unable to hold the nausea in check any longer. Dave watched her go before following Derek, pulling out his cell phone to call Hotch; they needed that note. Spencer grabbed the water bottle and headed towards the bathroom.

"Alicia?" he knocked tentative. After a cursory glance around the station, he opened the women's bathroom door and walked in. He saw her kneeling in the first stall and went to pull back her hair.

"I told her to be careful," she sobbed once her stomach had been emptied.

"Laura?"

"When I dropped her off, I told her that she needed to watch her back." Spencer helped Alicia to her feet and held her as she cried. It only took a few minutes for her to regain control of her emotions.

"Here," he said, handing her the water. She rinsed her mouth out and stood still as he washed her face with a wet paper towel. "You're exhausted."

"Friggen hormones." He almost took the easy opening to persuade her to go back home, but the determined set of her eyebrows stopped him.

"I'm going to call Hotch. You need to sleep."

"Babe, I need to find this guy. And I need to call the police patrolling my parents neighborhood and let them know what happened."

"I'll do that." Alicia looked at the man standing in front of her and sighed.

"I am so sick of being behind this guy." Spencer reached up and swept a piece of hair behind her ear before kissing her forehead.

"We're going to get him. I promise." She nodded, giving his hand a squeeze. "You ready?"

"Yeah, I think you need to get out of the ladies room before someone comes in," her weak smile made him chuckle.

"That would be the least of our problems. Let's go look at the suspect list, okay?" He held the door open for her, ignoring the look that the desk sergeant gave him. Alicia dug in her pocket for a piece of gum, wishing that she'd had a toothbrush.

"We've narrowed it down to three hundred," Dave told the two as they walked back into the room they'd set up in. The two men had obviously made some agreement to disregard her little melt down.

"Parameters?" Spencer asked, putting the water and donut he'd grabbed from the desk down in front of his girlfriend.

"The guy was fast," Derek stated, "so he's young. We cut the age to early to mid-twenties."

"Laura," Alicia gulped, "said that he had blondish hair." Her fingers ripped the pastry into little pieces before she forced herself to eat some.

"Ok, taking out dark haired students…" Penelope said. Alicia jumped a little; the laptop was turned away from her so she hadn't seen the computer genius on the web cam. Her nerves were shot from too much action on too little sleep. "Ok, I've still got over 100."

"Take out students who are in their first semester," Spencer added. "The crimes show a comfort with the campus that can't be achieved in only a few weeks."

"Sixty-eight." The four looked at each other, unable to think of anything else.

"Save the list, Garcia," Dave ordered. "We'll have to come back to it later."

"Right, now let me talk to my Cupcake!" Alicia felt the corner of her mouth twitch as she stood and walked to the computer. "Are you alright, Sweetheart?"

"Exhausted, mentally and physically, but fine." Penelope scrutinized the woman over 800 miles away.

"You, Prentiss, and me, baby, we're going to relax when you get back. I could use some sleep too." Alicia giggled, nodding enthusiastically.

"Manicures, pedicures, and massages."

"I'm booking them now."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

"'If you give me one of them, I'll stop'?" Derek read in an incredulous tone. The note the Unsub had talked about on the phone had been found in Laura's throat, just like Megan Martin. "The Unsub really thinks we're going to trot out of one our girls and say 'Hey, kill this one'?"

"Pessimist," Emily muttered.

"Honestly, you're acting like we don't know how to protect ourselves," Alicia protested. She was still a little groggy from the hour nap she'd managed to get, and the inability to have caffeine wasn't improving her temper. Spencer shot her a look before sipping his coffee. "We have guns and we know how to aim them."

"This isn't a joking matter, Weaver," Hotch snapped, looking over the evidence board again.

"Of course not sir," she replied. "All I'm saying is that we've been in this situation before and you have to trust us to handle it appropriately."

"Exactly," Emily agreed. "And I think maybe we should take the Unsub up on this."

"Are you suicidal, Prentiss?" Dave asked.

"No, but we can use this to our advantage. He wants Weaver and me so we'll give him that. Or at least let him think we are."

"Trap him," Alicia said, catching on. "Make him come to us."

"No!" Spencer yelled, drawing the attention of the team. He flushed under their scrutiny, "It's too dangerous. We can't guarantee their safety." Hotch looked at the young doctor for a moment before speaking.

"I need to speak to Prentiss and Weaver. Alone."

"Of course," Emily agreed, walking out of the room with Alicia trailing behind her.

"Go over all of this again. Find what we missed," the team leader ordered before following the women out of the station. "I don't like this."

"Hotch, we need something to go on. We still have 68 possible suspects," Alicia stated, crossing her arms across her chest. "He's already called out Prentiss and me, so why not let him think we're giving in?"

"It's not the way we operate," he protested. "We look at the profile and go from there."

"We've used the profile to get as far as we can. Now it's time to do something else," Emily stated. "He's good. We need more to catch him."

"We have the-"

"We don't have time," Alicia snapped. "Look, I don't mean to be rude or insubordinate but every minute we waste discussing this is another he gets to torture his next victim. I don't know about Prentiss, but I can't live with myself knowing that I could have done something to prevent that." The exasperated man looked at his two agents and sighed.

"Strauss will have my job if something happens to either of you."

OOO

"Alicia," Spencer hissed as she walked towards the bathroom. She looked at him and groaned.

"Listen-"

"No," he snapped. "You listen to me. This isn't only your life you're risking, remember?" The anger in his voice startled her. "That's _our_ baby you're carrying. I don't want you to risk it."

"Spencer, I have to," she breathed. "I promise I'll get us through this. And then I'll sit back and take it easy. I swear." Her hand dropped to her stomach while the other reached out for him.

"No," he said. "I'm not okay with this." Having said his piece, the doctor stormed away, leaving his girlfriend fighting back tears. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the bathroom and hurried to the stall, dropping to her knees. Her stomach clenched painfully as she heaved.

"Hey, you okay?" Emily asked, tapping on the closed stall.

"Fine," Alicia said, wiping the tears from her eyes. After cleaning herself up, she stepped out and looked at her friend. "Spencer's pissed." Emily shook her head and handed Alicia a travel bottle of mouthwash. She'd grabbed it from the hotel on the way back to the station.

"I can't say I blame him," she replied. "You just found out-"

"Shut up, shut up!" Emily took a step back as the woman exploded. "This isn't about me, this is about those girls. We aren't any closer to finding this bastard and this is our only chance. Yes, I know I'm fucking pregnant. Yes, I know I'm putting myself at risk. But damn it, I'm not going to let another girl die because I'm too scared to step foot outside of the PD."

"I can do this alone. You don't have-"

"I do."

OOO

"Hey," Dave said, walking up to Alicia. She was tying her running shoes. The plan was to for the two women to jog on opposites sides of the campus and hope that their Unsub was watching. They had changed into exercise gear and been assigned a team. Spencer, Morgan, and Hotch would be watching Emily while Dave, Detective Johnson, and a uniformed officer would be watching Alicia.

"Don't try it. Spence and Emily already tried."

"I just wanted to give you this." He handed her a set of handcuffs. She smirked.

"I'm already having trouble hiding my gun, where the hell do you expect me to put these?"

* * *

**Author's Note:** I just wanted to drop by and say thank you for the reviews. I'm a bit stuck writing the sequel, so they encourage me to keep going. I've already got everything planned out, it's just actually getting the dialogue/scenes written. Big events: covered. Getting the the big events: writer's block. AND I've got another story planned out, but I'm debating using Alicia as a character or creating a new one. Thoughts? And there is another story I'm brainstorming for Derek.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

"Male subject approaching Prentiss," Derek whispered into his wrist. Alicia forced herself to keep jogging around the campus, circling Landis (the second crime scene) for what felt like the millionth time. Beads of sweat rolled down her cheeks as she surreptitiously readjusted her earpiece. They'd been looking for this guy for nearly an hour and her muscles were screaming. "False alarm."

"Keep it up, Weaver," Dave said, watching her from one of the bushes. He's begrudgingly taken refuge there after realizing that his previous spot, the coffee shop of the library, was too far from her incase something happened.

"Asshole," she hissed, bringing up her arm as if to wipe the sweat away. His answering chuckle let her know he'd heard her. As had Hotch, who ordered them to pay attention to their surroundings.

"I'm not seeing anything," Emily panted. She'd been running on the other side of the campus. They hoped that the Unsub would see one of them and make a move; so far no luck. If he was as angry as he sounded on the phone, it was very likely that he would go after them. And they were hoping that he would make a mistake.

"Four o'clock!" Spencer yelled. He was assigned to Emily's team who seemed to be getting the most action that night.

"Go, go, go!" Hotch ordered. Alicia stopped running and pressed her earpiece tighter into her ear.

"Weaver!" Dave bellowed just as a masked man emerged from the shadows and hit her from behind. She crumpled to the ground and grabbed her head, feeling the warm blood on her hand. The suspect crouched down over her and put his hands to her throat. Alicia grabbed his wrist as started to squeeze, trying to find some way to fight him off.

Shots rang out and he cursed under his breath before jumping to his feet and running. "Federal officer down!" she could hear Dave screaming.

"Go!" she yelled back, lurching to her feet. The world tilted for a second but righted itself. "I'm fine." She clutched her neck before joining Dave as they raced across the campus after her attacker.

"Subject headed east towards Westcott," Alicia huffed into her wrist, drawing her gun from her lower back. Her lungs felt like they were going to burst and her head was pounding.

"Go around!" Dave yelled back, racing up the steps next to one of the dorms. Alicia ran up the incline, past the dining hall. As she leapt up the stairs and turned to round a corner, the brick by her face exploded. Jerking back, she crouched down, drawing in a deep breath. Her cheek stung where it'd been pelted by debris.

"I know you're out there, bitch!" the Unsub screamed. Steeling herself, Alicia jumped up and aimed her gun at the man. They each fired one shot, missing as they dove out of the way.

"Weaver!" Dave yelled again.

"I'm fine!" she answered, getting to her feet to join the chase again. She saw her teammate run into the construction site and quickly followed. He signaled for her to go around the opposite side of the building from her. Nodding, she walked as softly as possible, gun leading the way around ever corner.

The construction equipment offered too many hiding spots, Alicia thought. That thought was quickly followed by wondering where the hell the rest of the team was.

A shot rang out, followed by a roar of pain. Another shot.

Alicia started running towards the sound. It took her a moment to realize that the man coming towards her wasn't Dave.

The Unsub laughed and pointed his gun at her.

"FBI! Put down the weapon!" she ordered.

"Put down yours first, Alicia," he replied.

"PUT DOWN THE WEAPON!" she bellowed.

"I don't think I will," he said, his finger curling around the trigger.

Another shot rang out.

He fell to the ground clutching his knee and Alicia hurried over to him, kicking the gun out of his reach. "You are under arrest," she hissed, turning him over and slapping the cuffs (carefully hidden in under her shirt) on him. "DAVE!"

No answer.

"Stay down," she ordered, keeping her gun trained on him as she moved away. The Unsub was crying in pain. "Dave? DAVE!"

He was lying on the ground with blood pooling around him.

"WEAVER! ROSSI!" Hotch yelled in her ear. Alicia ran over to her partner and saw that he'd been shot in the neck. Fighting back tears, she crouched down next to him.

"Did you…get him?" he groaned. Alicia whipped off her shirt and pressed it to his neck.

"Federal officer down! I need an ambulance at Westcott on Copeland now! Suspect in custody but wounded."

"Did… get him?" Dave asked again.

"Shut up," she ordered, applying pressure to his neck. He winced but didn't say anything.

"ROSSI! WEAVER!"

"ALICIA!"

"DAVE!"

"Over here!" she yelled. Black spots danced across her vision but she shook them away, the small motion making Dave groan. "Sorry, sorry," she whispered. His blood was quickly soaking through her t-shirt. They could hear sirens in the distance and, closer, their team joining them.

"Oh my god," Emily breathed as they saw Alicia straddling Dave's chest. A trail of blood was running down her back, and more was pooling underneath him.

"I've got him," Hotch yelled, rushing to take over for Alicia. He pressed the shirt to his oldest friend's neck, pulling his head into his lap.

"I've got you," Derek said, pulling the woman up. She reached up to cover her head but Spencer caught her hands with his shaking ones.

"No, I'll take care of it." The last thing they needed was her bloody hand pressing into her open wound.

"Where the hell is that ambulance?" Hotch demanded.

"I called," Alicia mumbled before sagging in Derek's arm. He swung her into his arms and carried her out of the construction site, Spencer walking beside him.

"Watch her," Derek ordered, setting her down on a bench before running back to Dave's side. She lay down on her stomach, head resting on one arm and the other resting on Spencer's leg.

"Does anything else hurt?" he asked as he applied pressure to the lesion.

"Throat." The night suddenly filled with loud noises and red and blue.

* * *

**Author's Note: **So I wrote this before I was informed by my friend that they finished construction on Westcott =] I hope you enjoy this action scene.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

"You're mad," Alicia groaned, lying face down on the hard cement bench. Spencer was crouched down next to her, applying pressure to her injury. They were ignoring the small scrapes on her face from the brick pieces hitting her.

"No I'm not," he said, giving her hand a little squeeze. As angry as he had been earlier, the minute he'd seen her injured, it turned to worry.

"I know you are but you're trying not to upset me. But I need you to understand," her eyes bore into his. "I can't bring a life into the world knowing that I let someone get away with murdering four girls because I was scared. Their mothers are never going to see their babies again. I can't think about telling our child that they'll love it here if I don't feel safe sending them here. I can't… I can't…" she tried to catch her breath and stave off the tears that were burning her eyes.

"Who says that our kid isn't going to go to Cal Tech?" Spencer asked. He smiled as she let out a short laugh before groaning again, closing her eyes.

Alicia had waved off the EMTs that had rushed to her, demanding that they take care of Dave and the Unsub, not that she really cared if the latter was in pain. She and Spencer were still on the bench when they had rolled Dave past them. Under the streetlights, they could see how pale he was.

"I think this is ruined," Hotch said as he crouched down next to Alicia. She opened one eye and looked at her blood soaked shirt.

"Toss it." Her stomach rolled at the sight of it, so she closed her eyes again. "Is Dave alright?"

"They're going to take him right into surgery. Now, what about you?"

"Dizzy," she breathed. "And throat."

"Morgan went to get the car. They need the ambulances-"

"Good, I don't want a fuss." Hotch chuckled and squeezed her hand. It was at that moment that she realized that she was half naked in front of her boss, and it was kind of cold.

"Tell him to hurry up. I need a jacket."

"I've got your back," Emily let out a strained laugh; Alicia hadn't realized that she was there.

"Always do." Spencer helped her sit up and Emily slung the jacket over her shoulders. When Derek pulled up, she had to fight with him to walk over to the car. "I'm not a complete invalid." As it was, she needed the support to stay upright. Emily and Spencer sat in the back with her while Morgan drove and Hotch rode shotgun. "Go to the end of the road, just past the garage, and turn left. It's a one-way."

"We've got directions already, Miss Bossy," Derek said, looking at the woman lying in the back seat, her head in Spencer's lap. Thankfully, with the siren, it only took them five minutes to get across town. Alicia's head was pounding by the time they pulled into the ER.

"My gun," she said suddenly, reaching for the holster at her lower back. "I think I left it."

"I've got it," Hotch assured her. "Don't give the doctor's any trouble. I'm going to find out what's going on with Dave."

"You guys should go too. I'll probably need some stitches but it's okay." Alicia gave them a weak smile. Derek kissed her forehead before following Hotch. Emily and Spencer refused to leave her side.

"Agent Weaver!" Detective Johnson yelled as he ran into the ER. She winced at the loud noise and tried not too feel to bitter about how she'd gotten injured. "I'm so sorry. We heard someone screaming for help in the garage, so I sent Kirk to go check it out. The bastard snuck up behind me and knocked me out." Kirk had been the uniform assigned to her.

"It's okay," she muttered. Thankfully one of the nurses directed her towards a trauma bay at that time, cutting Johnson's apology off.

"Here," the nurse offered Alicia a large piece of wet gauze. "I'm sure you want to clean yourself up a little." She gave a very pointed look at her bloody hands before taking her blood pressure and temperature. "Any medical conditions we should know about?"

"Migraines, allergic to amoxicillin, and I'm pregnant." After jotting a couple notes on the chart, the nurse left and the doctor came right in.

"I heard we had a couple VIP patients," Dr. Passmore, an older gentleman, smiled as he walked in. He pulled out a small flashlight and peered into her eyes, checking her pupil reaction.

"Have you heard anything about Agent Rossi?" Emily asked.

"He came through here but the Chief of Surgery wanted him to go right up to the OR. Now let's get a peak at your head." He nodded to Spencer, who removed his hand. The doctor gently probed the wound but it still hurt like hell. "Ok, Agent Weaver, you're going to need stitches for sure, but I'm going to order a CT Scan to check for brain swelling."

"I would kill for some coffee right now," Alicia groaned. Even though she was in a lot of pain, she mainly felt tired.

"There's a cart upstairs if you'd like some, but I'd prefer if you waited until after you got checked out."

"I thought I couldn't have any since I'm pregnant." The doctor chuckled.

"You can have a cup a day, but try to limit the amount you have overall. Ok, I'm going to have you sent up for that scan right away. Someone should be in shortly to bring you upstairs." The door had barely swung shut when the nurse returned with a wheelchair.

OOO

"How's Dave?" Alicia asked sat down next to Derek. Spencer settled in next to her, and Emily next to Hotch.

"Haven't heard anything yet," he replied, running a hand over his head. "What about you?"

"Twelve stitches and a concussion." Derek patted the younger girl's knee and leaned back in the chair. She was just dozing off, head resting on Spencer's shoulder, when someone walked over to them.

"Are you with Agent Rossi?" the scrub clad woman asked. Hotch nodded. "Well, your friend is very lucky to be alive. The bullet nicked his carotid artery causing massive blood loss. We managed to stabilize him and the surgery was a success. We're moving him to the ICU for observation."

"Thank you," Emily breathed. "Can we see him?"

"He's under anesthesia right now but he should be awake in the next few hours. Two visitors at a time should be alright." She shook all of the agent's hands before going back to her other patients.

"You guys go first," Alicia said. "Where's our Unsub?"

"David Foster is in custody downstairs. He's getting his knee looked at before heading to lock up," Hotch answered. He and Emily went to see Dave first. Spencer went to grab them all a coffee.

"You sure you're alright?" Derek asked. Alicia nodded, resorting to using his flack jacket as pillow.

* * *

**Author's Note:** So I don't have a medical degree, or any medical training, so I can't know if this is correct. I've gotten most of it from Grey's Anatomy.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Dave felt a warm pressure on his hand as he struggled to wake up. He had a feeling he'd been out for a while. "Where am I?" he croaked. A weight shifted on the bed and he heard someone clear a throat.

"The hospital," Alicia said, squeezing his hand. Dave opened his eyes to see her softly smiling at him.

"How long?"

"You got out of surgery last night, and it's about 8:00 in the morning."

"You've been here since?"

"Hotch made me go back to the hotel but once I showered, I stole the SUV and came back." He chuckled, the feeling hurting his throat a little. It took him a moment to notice the dark bruises that covered her neck. "I don't Spencer and Derek will be too thrilled when they find out. I sent Hotch and Emily to get some rest."

"You okay?" She told him briefly about what the doctor had told her before squeezing his hand again and going to find a nurse. That and she needed to make a run to the bathroom. After cleaning herself up and silently hoping that the evil morning sickness was done, she walked back to Dave.

"Now Agent Rossi, you can't leave today," the nurse was saying. "You need to stay for observation."

"I need to get back to Quantico," he replied. Alicia rolled her eyes as she walked back in. "I've got a life and work to get back to, so get me the discharge papers."

"Sir, I don't-"

"I'll take care of it," Alicia said. "You, old man, are under orders from Hotch AND Strauss to stay here as long as the doctors say." The nurse smiled graciously before exiting the room.

"You say that like it means something. I want to go home," Dave reiterated. "And I am not old."

"If you see me in my bra, I get to call you what I want," she stated. "And right now, since you're being difficult, you're a grumpy old man."

"I thought that was a dream," he teased. She rolled her eyes again before sending a text to everyone on the team that Dave had woken up. "Did we get him?"

"Yeah," Alicia nodded, returning to the chair she'd been sleeping in. "David Foster's going in front of a judge today. He'll be arraigned in a few hours."

"Quick," he muttered, pulling at the oxygen line under his nose. Alicia slapped his hands away.

"Everyone just wants to put this behind them."

"Motive?"

"He was testing his dissertation theory, which if you want explained, you'll have to talk to Spence. Derek talked to his professor, and they said that they hadn't approved it, so this was his way of showing it was plausible." She was quiet for a moment, looking at his heart monitor.

"What?" he asked.

"I went on a date with him when I was in college. Travis and I were on a break and we had a class together. He met Sammy and Tyler, Megan Martin's brother, when they came up for a football game. When Trav and I made up, I told David that I was engaged. He took it pretty well, I thought…Penelope looked through his computer and he had all my press conferences saved on his hard drive. Now leave it alone before I call the nurse back." He had been reaching for his IV when she grabbed his hands and pinned them to his side.

"You're worse than my exes."

"I'll take that as a complement."

OOO

Dave was discharged a few days later. The team had helped wrap up the investigation and Alicia managed to sneak home for a few hours to visit her family again. While there, she'd gone to see Megan Martin's family. They'd been happy to see her and know for a fact that the man who killed their daughter was going to pay. She assured them that she would be back to testify at the trial.

In addition to a huge meal, Alicia was loaded down with baby items from her parents, including a baby blanket that she had used when she was an infant. The relaxing hours went by too fast, but the family was happy to see her stress free. Of course, she had conveniently forgotten to tell them about the stitches and wore a high-necked shirt.

OOO

"Finally," Dave sighed, settling in on the jet's couch. "I never thought I'd be so happy to be on here."

"Take your pill and relax," Alicia said, handing him a bottle of water and a pain pill. She'd taken personal responsibility for his recovery. Fifteen minutes later, they were up in the air headed back to Quantico. When they reached cruising altitude, Spencer squeezed Alicia's knee and gave her a significant look. She gently shook her head and gave him a very pointed look.

"Do you have something to say?" Hotch asked, watching the little exchange between his two youngest agents. He had been discussing a few things with Penelope over the webcam. The other members of the team looked at them, wondering what was going on. Alicia blushed and smiled a little while Spencer nodded.

"Yes, we have an announcement, actually." He had been mentally preparing for this ever since they had decided to out themselves. It wasn't as though they'd been able to hide her pregnancy forever.

"_We_?" Derek asked, echoed by Penelope.

"Yes, we," Alicia said. "Spencer and I have been seeing each other for over a year."

"How in the hell-" Derek started to say, but Alicia cut him off with a wave of her hand. Dave raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"Hotch," Spencer saw the look on his boss's face, "we already have an appointment to talk to Strauss about this when we get back."

"You know she might make one of you transfer? The policy is clear on no fraternization between agents. I've overlooked Garcia and Lynch, but when she finds out…"

"We've discussed that, and if it comes to it, I'll be the one that moves on. Spence is too valuable to the team to lose." Emily was about to protest the statement when Alicia cut her off with a look.

"That's not actually our announcement, though," Spencer said, grinning at his girlfriend, whom he now could acknowledge publically.

"What, are you getting married?" Derek asked, kind of annoyed that they had kept a secret from him for that long. Spencer gave Alicia a pointed look. After she'd gotten out of the hospital he'd proposed again, and again she'd turned him down. He tried not to be hurt, but he was. And he wasn't only proposing because of her pregnancy, he truly wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

"No. I'm pregnant." They could hear a pin drop before Emily started laughing.

"Your face," she pointed to Dave. He had a rather comical expression, somewhere between shock and happiness.

"Congratulations," Hotch said with a genuine smile as he hugged Alicia. Derek had nearly tackled Spencer when he's gotten up to get some coffee. He was gentler when he hugged her and kissed her on the top of her head.

"I've got shopping to do!" Penelope announced before shutting down the webcam link.

"So that's why you kept running out in the hospital," Dave smirked as Alicia knelt down to hug him. "At least you'll have someone else to pester, and you can leave me alone."

"Shut up, old man," she laughed.

* * *

**Author's Note: **So the next chapter will be the last in this story. As promised, I'm working on a sequel to this, which I will put out as soon as possible. And the last chapter will be longer than a usual chapter =] Please, please let me know what you've enjoyed and what could be worked on so I can improve the next story. Side note: Anyone else think last night's episode was awesome? I love Tim Curry. And next week is the end of JJ =[ From the commercial it seems like she was transferred. Can't wait to see what happens!


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Section Chief Erin Strauss studied the two agents sitting in front of her. Feeling rather like child in front of the principal, Alicia felt pulse race. Spencer, however, calmly regarded their boss. "How long have you two been together?"

"Over a year and a half," Spence replied; Alicia merely nodded.

"You were made aware of the no fraternization policy upon entering the Bureau?" Strauss turned her gaze to Alicia.

"Yes ma'am. However, we began-"

"I am well aware that you have been an agent for little over a year. You, Dr. Reid, you've been with us for much longer."

"I have." Spencer knew that she was trying to intimidate them and he wouldn't let her succeed. If for nothing else, he knew he had to be strong for Alicia, who had a particularly difficult morning. He'd found her unconscious on the bathroom floor; she'd been battling morning sickness since 2:00.

"Upon finding out that Agent Weaver was intending to join the FBI, you should have severed your relationship." Letting out a heavy sigh, Strauss leaned back in her chair. "I do appreciate you coming to me before I found out. And believe me, I would have found out." Alicia and Spence glanced at each other before, something Strauss saw.

"Ma'am, we haven't let our relationship affect our work, something I'm sure our colleagues can attest to," Spencer stated.

"I've already spoken to Agent Hotchner and he does agree with you." The older blonde woman sat up. "You two will apparently be the first to hear this information, as the memo is still being drafted. Two of our former agents had filed a wrongful termination suit after their relationship was discovered and they were fired. The Bureau has decided to get rid of the anti-fraternization policy to safeguard us from further lawsuits."

"What?" Alicia asked, scarcely trusting herself to believe what had just been said. She'd been fully prepared to leave the room and pack up her desk.

"If, however, there is any indication that your work is suffering due to your… _liaison_, you both will be let go."

"That seems reasonable," Spencer said. Strauss dismissed them, and he pulled his stunned girlfriend to her feet, ushering her out of the office.

"Well?" Emily demanded as the two walked back into the BAU bullpen, looking at the stunned expression on the woman's face. Spence sat Alicia down in his chair and perched himself on the desk next to her.

"Did she fire you?" Dave demanded, storming down the steps when he saw the two back in the in the office. "Because I'll march right up there and remind of her when she broke the policy."

"We still have a job," he replied, reaching into his desk drawer and bottle of water, which he pushed into Alicia's hand. She twisted the cap off before looking at Dave and glaring.

"I thought I told you that you were on medical leave and not to come back here for another week! And did you just insinuate that you and Strauss…?"

"No," Dave said a bit too quickly.

"You and Strauss?" Hotch asked as he joined his team in the bullpen.

"So you're still in the Bureau?" Dave deflected. Alicia took a sip of the water and looked at the oldest member of the group.

"I'm getting my bag and driving you back home right now. You _will_ stay there if I have to get my brother-in-law to overnight me a sedative." Alicia's older sister, Crystal, had dated her college sweetheart and stayed with him through medical school, marrying halfway through. Dr. Michael Lewiston was now a resident specializing in neurosurgery.

"Weaver," Agent Rossi growled, "I got cleared for flying, so I'm staying at work." Alicia stood up, her small frame not much of a match for Dave's taller stature, and put her hands on her hips.

"The office can survive without you, but if you stunt your recovery by pushing yourself too hard, we'll be visiting you in a graveyard instead of that mansion you call home. Now get your crap," she stabbed a finger towards his office, "and meet me back here in five minutes." With her piece said, she stormed to her office, heels clicking angrily as she hit the tile.

"Hormones," Spencer shrugged when Dave turned to him. He was fighting a smile, happy to see that she was at least a little recovered. "She's been in a bad mood for the last week." Right after they'd gotten back from Tallahassee, they'd started looking for an apartment to move into together, which was making her stressed. He'd actually caught her crying in the bathroom when her football team had lost and Derek had teased her about it. Said agent had gotten quite an earful the next day from Spencer.

"Don't forget, you and me are going to the airport at 5:00 to get my friends," Alicia warned as she came back to the assembled group a few minutes later. He smiled and pecked her cheek.

"Friends?" Derek asked, sitting up a little higher.

"Married and in a serious relationship. Hands off." She glared at him; Alicia was very protective of her best friends and their significant others.

"Yes ma'am," he mock saluted.

"Tell Dave I'm waiting outside," she said as her phone started ringing. She kissed Spencer quickly before heading out, phone pressed to her ear. "Agent Weaver."

OOO

Spencer watched the three women squeal and hug one another as he stood off to the side. He and Alicia had been waiting at the airport for over two hours, watching as the flight got delayed further and further. Finally, she'd gotten a text message that they had just landed.

"Guys, this is my boyfriend, Spencer Reid," Alicia beamed as she ushered her friends over. "Spence, this is Cadence Moore and Meaghan Kirkland."

"Nice to meet you," he said, reaching to shake their hands. Cadence had dark blonde hair and blue eyes. Meaghan had dark brown hair and brown eyes. Both, like Alicia, were rather on the short side and wore glasses.

"You're a cutie," Cadence winked; Alicia and Meaghan rolled their eyes, grins plastered across their faces. "At least we know our little niece or nephew is going to be good looking."

"Cadence!" Meaghan laughed. "Oh, and I have something for you, by the way." She reached into her carry on bag and pulled out a DVD: Baby Seminole, Raising Tomorrow's FSU Fan Today! "I hope she told you that we made a pact to have all of our children go to FSU," she said to Spencer.

"I haven't forgotten, but he thinks this one is going to Cal Tech," Alicia smirked, placing a hand on her stomach.

"Nuh uh! That's a Noles baby!" Cadence grinned, putting a hand over Alicia's. "I can feel it doing to Chop already."

"Actually, it's not possible-" Spencer began, but Alicia shook her head.

"Sarcasm, sweetheart, sarcasm." He nodded, happy to see her in a better mood.

"I'm starving," Meaghan announced. "Airport pizza just doesn't cut it."

"We're going to out dinner with some people from work tonight, and then tomorrow, we'll hit DC," Alicia said, linking arms with her two best friends. "Hopefully they'll be on their best behavior."

"I can't promise that I'll be," Cadence laughed. "You know me when I've had a couple drinks. I'm on vacation, baby!"

"Yes, we know. We've had to pour you into bed quite a few times," Alicia grinned. "Not that I didn't have my fair share of nights." Spencer rolled his eyes, remembering the night's he'd had to help her to bed, and followed the woman he loved and her two friends to baggage claim. It was going to be an interesting week.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Ta-da! The End. At last of this part. The sequel will be called _Dance The Sky in Sweet Delight_. It's from Meghan's Song, by Matthew Perryman Jones. It should be up relatively soon.


End file.
